Chapter 765: A Young Man Arrives at the Edict Pavilion
After concluding his conversation with Teacher Hong Jian, Yu Xinghan returned to his room to continue his cultivation for the day.
The sect’s facilities far surpassed those of the University. Each trainee was assigned a private room spanning hundreds of square meters, equipped with various cultivation facilities.
Standing in his room, Yu Xinghan took a deep breath, feeling the dense spiritual energy flood his chest. Even mere breathing enhanced his Magic Power.
Actively practicing his breathing technique caused his Magic Power to surge at an explosive rate compared to his progress in the lower layers.
Moreover, since arriving on the Eleventh Layer, Yu Xinghan had noticed a significant acceleration in his comprehension of martial arts. The cultivation arts he had mastered were rapidly leveling up, pushing toward the Peak Level 30 Golden Core Realm.
Yu Xinghan sensed that it wouldn’t be long before he could elevate all his fundamental attributes to the peak of the Golden Core Realm. Every cultivation art he had mastered, including those secretly acquired, techniques without copyright, would soon reach Level 30.
This cultivation efficiency was something he could never have imagined in the past.
“The sect is perfect in every way, except…”
Yu Xinghan glanced at a message flashing in the group chat: “I just downloaded a cultivation art from the Technique Transmission Tower and broke through to Level 10. You should try it too!”
Another disciple had downloaded and mastered a cultivation art through the Dharma Realm, sharing their breakthrough in the group chat.
Watching this, Yu Xinghan sighed inwardly, “No matter how fast I am, I can’t possibly match their efficiency.”
“By directly infusing the cultivation art’s memory into the mind, one can instantly master even the most intricate techniques.”
“Combined with Immortal Dao Materials, even cultivation arts requiring years of accumulation can be advanced multiple levels in a single breakthrough.”
Yu Xinghan mused, “The stronger one’s dao heart and will, the more memory infusion they can withstand, the more frequently they can perform it, and the greater the progress they can make each time.”
“And if Dharma Drugs are used to enter a high cognitive state, the rate of advancement accelerates even further…”
In the next moment, with a thought, the Dharma Realm projected the interface of the Technique Transmission Tower before him, revealing countless cultivation arts.
The Immortal Sect Techniques, in particular, made Yu Xinghan’s mouth water.
However, the prices of these Immortal Sect Techniques, whether in Immortal Coins or Dao Merit, were far beyond Yu Xinghan’s current means.
Glancing at the loan advertisement beside the list, Yu Xinghan took a deep breath and silently chose to close it. He discovered he could only close the cultivation art list, not the advertisement itself, as closing the ad required an additional fee in Immortal Coins.
Moments later, dual cultivation invitations from other disciples began to appear before Yu Xinghan’s eyes.
Fang Jieyi: “Little brother, let Sis guide you.”
The image of this beautiful elder sister flashed through Yu Xinghan’s mind, followed by fleeting glimpses of Li Xuelian and a continuous stream of scenes depicting disciples assisting each other in cultivation.
Yu Xinghan knew the Dual Cultivation Dao was as vast as the sea. As a cornerstone of the Joyful Union Sect, it was far more than just improving basic stats.
Within the sect, most disciples had already reached the peak of their Cultivation Realm, their progress limited only by their rank and Cultivation Realm certificates. Their fundamental attributes had long since reached their maximum potential.
Therefore, the dual cultivation arts practiced by sect disciples often focused on areas beyond simply enhancing fundamental attributes, aiming instead to further refine their various operational capabilities.
Whenever Yu Xinghan thought about how they were progressing together through mutual assistance, whenever he saw the shared recommendations in the group chat, he felt like he was still running to catch up while everyone else was already flying.
This technological gap in the Immortal Dao, this constant feeling of being left behind, filled Yu Xinghan with anxiety.
“If this continues… can I really catch up to these Sect Scions?”
For a moment, doubt crept into Yu Xinghan’s heart.
But then, Zhang Yu’s warning flashed through his mind:
“Only by not relying on Dharma Drugs, not relying on dual cultivation, and not relinquishing memory access… is this the only way to reach greater heights in the future?”
“Does this mean I have to endure being left behind for a considerable time?”
All it would take was a single thought to take out a loan, unlock his memory permissions, download a cultivation art while taking Dharma Drugs, and then participate in dual cultivation with other trainees…
Yu Xinghan could imagine it clearly: with just a mental command and this simple process, his progress on the Immortal Dao would surge again. It would boost his future work performance and help him accumulate wealth…
Yet, with such a path to Immortal Cultivation laid before him, he had to reject it. Yu Xinghan sighed inwardly, “It’s truly hard to resist.”
“If it weren’t for Zhang Yu, I probably would have given in long ago.”
Just as Yu Xinghan was growing restless, a message from his training teacher flashed before Zhang Yu’s eyes:
“Zhang Yu, I know you climbed up from the Lower Realm and your financial situation isn’t as good as the Upper Realm trainees.”
“But every inch of progress on the Immortal Dao requires money.”
“Take this and use it.”
When Zhang Yu, deeply moved, clicked the link, he discovered it was a Dharma Drug new user invitation.
With a mere thought, Zhang Yu could obtain and activate a free Dharma Drug Infusion.
Zhang Yu muttered to himself, “This guy… is using me to complete his new user invitation task, isn’t he?”
Upon arriving at the classroom, Zhang Yu found himself constantly encountering other overly enthusiastic disciples.
“Zhang Yu, even though your grades are lagging, we’ll never give up on you!” someone said, clasping Zhang Yu’s hands earnestly. “Here’s the latest cultivation art discount coupon. Just mention my name when you use it.”
“Zhang Yu, the fact that you climbed up here through sheer merit is truly admirable. I’ve applied for a reserve of cultivation power from the Heavenly Court for you. Take it and use it.”
“Zhang Yu, I’m giving you these companies. Just sign the contracts, and you’ll be the legal representative from now on.”
At first, when Zhang Yu saw these enthusiastic disciples, he thought he might have misunderstood the sect all along.
“But every time… every single time I start to feel a little warmth toward you guys, you open your mouths and start spouting nonsense.”
Delivering medicine, pushing sales, saddling him with debt, offering exorbitant rewards for offspring… Zhang Yu felt the Sect Scions in his class had lost all semblance of humanity, each scheming to exploit his Immortal Dao Potential.
Fu Ji sighed, “They really treat us lower layers like ignorant villagers, as if we know nothing.”
Immortal Slayer explained, “To the sect, a newcomer represents a fresh user, especially one who’s been admitted as Sect Staff. That signifies immense potential.”
“If they can drain your Immortal Dao Potential for the next few decades or even centuries in one go, it would be a massive profit for them.”
“Just endure a little longer. Once training ends and you enter the Edict Pavilion, things will improve significantly…”
Zhang Yu shook his head. Beyond the various schemes to exploit his Immortal Dao Potential, he sensed a more insidious threat: memory access, loans, Dharma Drugs, dual cultivation… Temptations relentlessly eroded his resolve, forcing him to reject them again and again each day.
To Zhang Yu, these alluring shortcuts to the Immortal Dao felt like fine threads coiling around him. A moment’s hesitation, and he’d be ensnared, hooked like a fish on a line…
He could tolerate all of that, but the immediate threat was Hong Jian’s threat of remedial dual cultivation.
Zhang Yu asked, “Haven’t you sorted it out yet?”
Immortal Slayer replied, “Almost. But falsifying data requires a target. Have you decided who it will be?”
The next day, when Hong Jian reviewed the homework again, he was surprised to find Zhang Yu ranked at the top.
“His dual cultivation record has improved this much?”
“But he didn’t submit a video?”
A flicker of suspicion arose in Hong Jian’s mind.
Before the establishment of the Dharma Realm, he would have needed to bring Zhang Yu to his office and watch him personally redo the assignment.
But with the Dharma Realm in place, things were much simpler.
Hong Jian merely glanced at Zhang Yu’s self-assessment report to verify the data’s authenticity.
After all, in his view, Zhang Yu might falsify his work, and even the videos could be faked, but the data from the Myriad Laws Steward couldn’t be manipulated.
As the saying went, “Seeing is believing, but data is truth.” In Hong Jian’s eyes, the Myriad Laws Steward’s data was more reliable than his own eyes.
Upon reviewing the report, Hong Jian chuckled. “Frequency, output, and yield are all top-ranked. Has he… finally awakened?”
As for not submitting the video… Hong Jian considered it a minor matter. “Probably just another quirk of the lower layers.”
Zhang Yu’s dual cultivation partner, however, surprised Hong Jian.
“Le Mulan? Isn’t she the outsourced employee Yu Xinghan brought in?”
In their room, Zhang Yu and Le Mulan breathed sighs of relief as they saw their assignment had been successfully completed.
With Immortal Slayer’s help, they had fabricated dual cultivation data, which the Myriad Laws Steward detected as genuine.
Zhang Yu knew the Dharma-Warding Talisman could distort data, causing errors in various detection methods. He had relied on this very ability to conceal some of his secrets.
But this latest version of the Dharma-Warding Talisman… was no longer the version True Monarch Immortal Slayer had once mastered. Moreover, True Monarch Immortal Slayer had never used the talisman to fabricate dual cultivation data before. Fortunately, they had still succeeded in the end.
“With this… I won’t have to worry about being seen as lacking enthusiasm for dual cultivation anymore. I’m finally integrating further into the sect.”
Beside him, Ye Xingli watched Zhang Yu and Le Mulan, a flicker of resentment in her heart. “I’m the one Junior Brother brought in as an outsourced employee. Why did he choose her as his dual cultivation partner?”
Meanwhile, in Hong Jian’s office, he stared at the message floating before him, his mind replaying the earlier scene.
Just as he was about to personally guide Yu Xinghan and True Monarch Starfire, a mysterious woman contacted him, instructing him to suspend their tutoring.
This left Hong Jian sighing inwardly, “The sky of the Sect is truly getting darker and darker. To think that I, too, must pass these two poor students through my hands.”
A week later, as the training concluded, the trainees dispersed to their respective departments to report for duty.
Most departments within the Myriad Laws Sect, like the training school, were located in Central Apex Heaven.
Zhang Yu’s assignment to the Edict Pavilion and Yu Xinghan’s to the Martial Arts Pavilion fell under the same general direction.
In contrast, True Monarch Starfire and Li Xuelian’s assignment to Heaven’s Mandate Hall lay in almost the exact opposite direction.
Thus, as they stepped out of the training school’s gates, the group prepared to part ways.
True Monarch Starfire clapped both of them on the shoulders. “Contact me anytime if you need anything. Your teacher may not have made a name for himself in the Myriad Laws Sect, but I still know a few people.”
“And remember: borrow in moderation, stay off drugs, and go easy on the dual cultivation…”
After these final words of caution, True Monarch Starfire turned and left with Li Xuelian.
Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Ye Xingli, and Le Mulan soared from the floating island, ascending toward the Myriad Laws Sect’s colossal structure, a towering complex that pierced the heavens, each layer resembling a sprawling city.
Simultaneously, Zhang Yu felt a sudden surge in his lower abdomen. Bai Zhenzhen’s Immortal Spirit Root had somehow been transmitted to him.
“A-Zhen?” Zhang Yu’s heart stirred, and he immediately transmitted his own Feather Spirit Root back to her.
Bai Zhenzhen’s soft hum echoed in his mind.
“My training here is finally over,” she said. “I’m reporting to the Sky Patrol Station now. What about you?”
Zhang Yu sighed. “It’s over…”
He proceeded to recount their recent experiences.
Bai Zhenzhen exclaimed, “I thought the Heavenly Sword Sect was full of lunatics and that things were already tough enough, but your Myriad Laws Sect sounds even worse! It’s like every step is a trap, every corner a pitfall!”
As they chatted, catching up on each other’s situations, Zhang Yu and his companions had already reached the Edict Pavilion’s office area on the Eleventh Layer.
“Go ahead,” Yu Xinghan said, pointing upward. “I need to head to the Martial Arts Pavilion. We’re practically neighbors, maybe we’ll see each other every day.”
Zhang Yu knew that both the Edict Pavilion, responsible for approving copyrights for Immortal Dao Technologies, and the Martial Arts Pavilion, responsible for researching and developing martial dao techniques, were subordinate to the Myriad Laws Palace Hall.
The Myriad Laws Palace Hall was one of the core units within the Myriad Laws Sect, overseeing the development direction of various Immortal Dao Technologies. Most other units with offices on the Eleventh Layer were located nearby, meaning Zhang Yu would likely have ample opportunities to meet Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan in the future.
After bidding farewell, Zhang Yu and Ye Xingli entered the Edict Pavilion building and followed the signs to the Human Resources Department to report for duty.
After completing the onboarding procedures, Zhang Yu officially became a 1st Rank Sect Staff member at the Edict Pavilion and received a map of the entire pavilion.
At the same time, an introductory manual about the Edict Pavilion unfolded before him, page by page.
“The core department of the Edict Pavilion is the Review Department.”
“Beneath the Review Department are specialized groups responsible for reviewing copyrights for various Immortal Dao Technologies, including daoist arts, martial arts, artifact refinement, and more.”
“When reviewing copyrights, a crucial step is to search for existing Immortal Dao Technology copyrights.”
“Therefore, the Edict Pavilion is authorized to apply for access to the Dao Repository. Once approved, a connection can be established at the Dao Seeking Hall to access comprehensive information on various Immortal Dao Technologies…”
Upon reading this, Zhang Yu’s heart skipped a beat. He marveled, “Something the Ten Greats League would struggle to even touch, yet here, I can simply apply for a connection.”
With a thought, a holographic map of the entire Edict Pavilion materialized before him.
Simultaneously, Zhang Yu successfully connected to the Edict Pavilion’s Internal Dharma Realm.
A work platform unfolded before him, displaying his first task for the day: “report to Martial Dao Group Three in the Review Department.”
Zhang Yu knew this group would likely be his future workplace.
In the next moment, with another thought, the location of the Review Department within the Edict Pavilion lit up on the map. A long, dotted line projected from his position, guiding him toward Martial Dao Group Three.
Arriving at the group’s office, Zhang Yu found a vast space teeming with outsourced employees. Sect Staff were a rare sight among the bustling crowd.
The Group Leader of Martial Dao Group Three materialized as a projection within the office.
He glanced at Zhang Yu and smiled. “You must be Zhang Yu, the genius student who rose through the ranks. I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”
Zhang Yu gazed at Qu Yizhi, the 3rd Rank Nascent Soul Cultivator who would be his future supervisor.
“Perfect timing,” Qu Yizhi said. “The team has a critical task that only a Heavenly Chosen like you can handle.”
With a flick of his finger, Qu Yizhi assigned a mission to Zhang Yu’s work platform, a 90-day countdown timer immediately appearing.
“You’re in the Nascent Soul Realm, right? We’ve just received a batch of new Nascent Soul Realm foundational cultivation arts for copyright approval. Zhang Yu, you’ll be responsible for reviewing and approving these arts.”
“Ninety days should be sufficient, don’t you think?”
As Zhang Yu accepted the mission and departed, the smile vanished abruptly from Qu Yizhi’s face.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu examined the mission details, thinking to himself, “Copyright approval for twenty-four foundational cultivation arts, all at the Nascent Soul Realm… That’s quite a workload.”
For most cultivators, reviewing twenty-four foundational cultivation arts for copyright approval would be tedious and menial work.
But for Zhang Yu, it represented a significant opportunity for growth.
As his gaze swept across each cultivation art, the corresponding Chain Formation Diagram for that foundational art materialized in his mind’s eye.
“These twenty-four newly updated foundational cultivation arts can all be integrated into my Nascent Soul Sacred Body,” he realized.
Since activating the Infinite Chain Formation Diagram, Zhang Yu could enhance the effects of his Chain Method Diagram Set by increasing the number of cultivation arts he mastered.
For example, by cultivating more foundational arts within the set, his Nascent Soul Sacred Body would gain improved cultivation efficiency and effectiveness.
“Just enhancing the Nascent Soul Sacred Body will greatly improve my efficiency in reviewing cultivation arts,” Zhang Yu thought with a faint smile as he browsed the detailed content while walking toward his desk.
He knew that according to the standard workflow of the Review Department, the initial review primarily involved checking for completeness, proper formatting, and any illegal content.
“Shouldn’t this step be handled by outsourced employees?” Zhang Yu suddenly realized. Qu Yizhi hadn’t assigned him any outsourced staff, meaning Ye Xingli remained his only outsourced assistant.
Just then, the work platform flashed, indicating a new task had been assigned.
Meanwhile, Qu Yizhi thought to himself, “I’ll bury you under a mountain of tasks first.”
Qu Yizhi harbored no personal grudge against Zhang Yu.
His motive for targeting Zhang Yu was simple: some people didn’t want to see members of the University Faction rise through the ranks, especially someone like Zhang Yu, who had climbed up through the examination system from the bottom.
Qu Yizhi knew this involved the sect’s internal factional strife, and the University Faction was at a complete disadvantage in this regard. Naturally, he didn’t mind adding another kick while they were down.
However, he didn’t plan to go too far, like kicking Zhang Yu out of the sect. That would require too much effort and wouldn’t be worth it.
“Let’s start with 50 years as a Level 1 Sect Staff,” Qu Yizhi thought to himself. “With me here, you won’t be promoted for the next 50 years.”
To him, this was simple. All he needed to do was keep assigning Zhang Yu tasks.
After all, everyone’s time, resources, and energy were finite. By constantly piling responsibilities on Zhang Yu, he would inevitably fail to complete them or make mistakes.
Once Zhang Yu revealed these weaknesses, Qu Yizhi could label him as having “limited Immortal Dao Potential” and “insufficient capabilities.”
Repeat this a few times, ensuring Zhang Yu consistently failed his evaluations, and he would remain stuck as a Level 1 Sect Staff indefinitely.
Qu Yizhi knew that even if Zhang Yu realized this, he would be powerless to resist. For a newcomer to refuse tasks or defy his superior would be an even greater mistake, violating the Myriad Laws Sect’s core values and leaving him with no foothold within the sect.