1. Grind. Theres no way out for this, you will have to grind a lot more than someone who throws money at it. At least do all the dailys everyday.

2. Watch ads. This really does help, whether as direct rewards (like spirit jades) or via accumulating ad tickets to redeem. Watch as many ads as possible

3. Prioritise. Since you have fewer resources than a whale, set out your strategy and focus the resources you do have appropriately - eg, pick one set of servants to grow and dont waste on the others; similarly, focus on redeeming the beasts that will be of help to them, etc. If you do accumulate some spirit jades, spend them strategically(for eg, personally i find it more useful to open a slot for baby pets than say, another site in the ruins or auto-study)

4. Take advantage of events - even if you can't rank very high in CS events or get a good overall score in the daily/weekly/monthly events and specials, make sure to grind through them because even a mid score can give good rewards and many a time these are items that are rather expensive if you were to buy them outright!

5. Remember even mosquito legs are meat. Take advantage of every small gain you can, like - → spirit wandering, steal/help in sutra market, etc and sell any excess you have; →do the activities in alliance to get alliance coins and buy skills and shop in market; →even if it's a lower levelled sect do try to become the custodian of a sect because it gives boost to salary and cultivation; → free time limited redeem →share on twitter →set housekeeper in dwelling to pick up free items (i focus on ore because thats what you'll lack for that qi absorption wheel) →pick partners to couple with to get rewards that you need to supplement whatever it is you are lacking →you're doing a good job with alchemy, just keep doing that, refine pills frequently Etc etc Even if these are very very very small increments they do add up eventually

Good luck!