Overdrawn Immortal

Overdue Ascension Immortality used to be priceless.   Then someone put it on a subscription plan.   Shen Qing is one of a million people uploaded into the Cultivation Cloud, a virtual xianxia world where mortals can  refine qi, join sects, hunt demons, and ascend beyond the limits of the human body.   There are only three problems.   He cannot log out before reaching Soul Formation.   His account balance is already negative.   And if he dies in the Cloud, his real body dies with him.   Every breath of spiritual energy costs credit. Every pill, technique, room, weapon, and healing session adds to the  debt. The rich buy heavenly roots and legacy arts. The poor sign contracts they do not understand.   Shen Qing has no system, no hidden master, and no premium bloodline.   Just a growing debt, a body he cannot return to, and a heaven that sends monthly bills.   To survive, he will have to treat cultivation like what it really is: not a path to enlightenment, but a rigged  economy waiting to be broken.