Chapter 767: Outstanding Work Ethic
In the office area of Martial Dao Group Three within the Edict Pavilion, Chu Wangji glanced in Zhang Yu’s direction and noticed that the newcomer had barely settled in before leaving Ye Xingli alone and heading to the cultivation room.
“These past few days… this kid has been holed up in the cultivation room every day, hasn’t he? He’s certainly dedicated, but that’s not how you handle review work.”
Chu Wangji shook his head, thinking to himself, “With only four hours of work time per day, he should be maximizing his efficiency by leveraging the resources of the Internal Dharma Realm. What’s the point of burying himself in solitary training?”
Chu Wangji knew that since the Myriad Laws Sect had implemented its “No Overtime Ever” policy, anyone working more than four hours a day would face fines.
Many positions had daily quotas, such as producing a certain number of products or inspecting a certain number of magical artifacts. These tasks had to be completed within the four-hour timeframe.
However, some roles, like Chu Wangji’s martial arts copyright review work, weren’t easily quantified into daily targets. Instead, deadlines ranging from a few days to several weeks were typically assigned.
In response to the Myriad Laws Sect’s “No Overtime Ever” slogan, the Review Department adopted a strategy of limiting work hours to four per day. During this time, employees could freely use all office facilities and access the Internal Dharma Realm at no cost.
Beyond these four hours, however, employees had to pay to use any office resources, including connecting to the Internal Dharma Realm.
Chu Wangji mused to himself, “Ever since we started paying for overtime, the entire Review Department has cut costs and boosted efficiency. Not only has productivity skyrocketed, but we’ve even generated additional revenue from employees’ overtime fees…”
He still vividly remembered his clumsy, stumbling, and even crawling days when the four-hour work system first began, when he had to pay to work extra hours every day.
Later, he upgraded his Immortal Sect Magical Artifact, updated his Bionic, and even purchased and mastered Martial Eleven and Martial Twelve, going beyond Martial One to Ten. He nearly drained his savings and emergency funds in this frantic push to enhance his work capabilities.
“…And with a bit of tightening the reins on outsourced workers, we finally managed to squeeze our work hours down to under four per day.”
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Chu Wangji couldn’t help but worry again. “The pressure in this sect is getting hotter by the day.”
“Those old fogies upstairs are constantly devising new ways to squeeze us. Who knows what they’ll demand next… how much higher will they push our performance targets?”
While Chu Wangji was lost in thought, Zhang Yu had already entered the cultivation chamber.
With a whoosh of fist winds, Zhang Yu’s figure flickered in and out of view within the chamber.
The review process for martial dao techniques, beyond the initial document review, required practical verification of the art.
Reviewers had to summarize the Immortal Dao Technology embedded within the technique, compile testing data, research relevant technical literature, and verify its novelty, creativity, and practicality.
Throughout this process, constant reliance on the Edict Pavilion’s resources was essential, particularly the data repository within the Internal Dharma Realm.
Zhang Yu knew that reviewers typically needed multiple rounds of communication with the applicants, requesting further data and documentation before reaching a final conclusion.
But he had a more direct method.
For him, the quickest, most convenient, and most thorough way to understand a cultivation art was simply to use the Feather Book to push it to its limits.
With each iteration of pushing the cultivation art, Zhang Yu’s understanding of it deepened, as if he had practiced it year after year.
For example, the Heart-Rectifying Unity Fist, which he was currently reviewing, was a basic fist technique for physical body cultivation in the Nascent Soul Realm, employing 108 stances to refine every inch of flesh and blood.
As Zhang Yu’s body suddenly expanded, his bones and muscles vibrated in unison, and the 16 Demon Beast Clones hidden within him simultaneously began to circulate their respective cultivation arts.
Zhang Yu’s main body unleashed a flurry of punches, each strike stirring up gusts of wind.
After completing the entire sequence once, Zhang Yu had mastered the martial art completely, reaching the 4th-tier level in a single breath.
This was already the fifth cultivation art Zhang Yu had mastered in recent days.
Combined with his previous skills, Zhang Yu’s Nascent Soul Sacred Body had reached a level of (17/12). By refining twelve of these cultivation arts into nourishment, he could upgrade his Nascent Soul Sacred Body to a level of (5/13).
Although Zhang Yu had already met the requirements to upgrade his Nascent Soul Sacred Body, he didn’t rush to do so.
He planned to accumulate enough cultivation art points to reach (25/12) before upgrading. This way, the upgrade would immediately bring his Nascent Soul Sacred Body to its maximum level of (13/13).
This optimized approach would eliminate any “downtime” for his Nascent Soul Sacred Body, preventing it from reverting to a (5/13) state and allowing Zhang Yu to maintain its full effects continuously.
During these days, while Zhang Yu relentlessly advanced his martial dao cultivation level, Ye Xingli diligently handled the corresponding paperwork.
Initially, her tasks were limited to preliminary review of materials. However, as Zhang Yu progressed, her workload steadily increased.
Once Zhang Yu had pushed a martial art to its limits, completely mastered it, and internalized its essence, he would outline the necessary documentation based on his understanding of its Immortal Dao Technology principles. He’d list relevant research terms to be searched, all to verify the martial art’s novelty, creativity, and practicality.
Tasks such as archiving test data, preparing research requests, collecting information on similar martial arts, and various other related duties were all assigned to Ye Xingli.
After completing the data retrieval and organization, Ye Xingli would submit all the materials to Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu would then enter the Supreme Clarity Realm, rapidly review the information at 20 times the normal speed, and assign the next steps in the process.
Through this back-and-forth collaboration, the two gradually refined the review reports.
Relying on his innate talent for quickly mastering cultivation arts, Zhang Yu’s work efficiency was exceptionally high.
However, to date, he hadn’t fully completed any cultivation art review report.
This was because the final step required visiting the Dao Seeking Hall, connecting to the Dao Repository, conducting a final confirmation, and submitting the report.
Only after passing the Dao Repository’s final review would a cultivation art review report be considered fully completed.
Zhang Yu felt that he and the other reviewers were like sandboxes, sifting through vast quantities of data to discard the dross and retain the essence before sending it to the Dao Repository.
“Still, applying to access the Dao Repository is rather troublesome, and connecting to it takes time…”
Thinking this, Zhang Yu decided to wait until the review reports were nearly finished before connecting to the Dao Repository in one go to complete the submissions.
In the blink of an eye, his four-hour work shift came to an end.
A notification about overtime pay popped up in Ye Xingli’s vision, startling her into immediately disconnecting from the Edict Pavilion’s Internal Dharma Realm.
Though her workaholic instincts still tugged at her, Ye Xingli could only sigh in frustration at her empty pockets.
Fortunately, she could sense that the review process was progressing smoothly under Zhang Yu’s guidance.
“Zhang Yu… truly deserves his reputation as a peerless genius in the martial dao,” she mused. “Give him any martial arts technique, and within a day, he’ll have mastered its intricacies, quickly grasping the optimal review methods.”
“At this pace, we should be able to complete the review of all 24 cultivation arts within a month, right?”
The thought that she would only need to handle paperwork during this period filled Ye Xingli with gratitude.
Especially after witnessing the other outsourced workers laboring desperately, some even draining their Immortal Dao Potential, Ye Xingli felt increasingly fortunate to have come to the sect with Zhang Yu.
After work, Zhang Yu led Ye Xingli to the dormitory assigned by the Edict Pavilion.
Normally, outsourced employees weren’t assigned dormitories, so Zhang Yu simply let Ye Xingli move in with him.
After all, his assigned dormitory was several hundred square meters, far more space than he could ever use alone.
Back in his dormitory, Zhang Yu resumed cultivating his martial arts. He practiced the Heart-Rectifying Unity Fist until he had advanced it to Level 40, at which point he paused briefly.
At that moment, countless figures flashed through his mind, each fist technique deeply etched into his heart, the culmination of his diligent training and hard work.
In the next instant, Zhang Yu’s eyes gleamed as he activated the Formless Martial Art Chain Formation Diagram, simulating the Level 40 Heart-Rectifying Unity Fist in one fluid motion.
“Testing data confirms it: the Formless Martial Art remains the superior method for simulation.”
“After all, nearly all reviewers in Martial Dao Group Three use the Martial Art One series of cultivation arts to simulate and test techniques.”
With his already solid foundation in the Level 40 Heart-Rectifying Unity Fist, simulating the technique through the Formless Martial Art became effortless for Zhang Yu. He could complete it with a mere thought, unlike other reviewers who had to painstakingly advance and test each stage.
Afterward, Zhang Yu planned and arranged his remaining tasks, realizing there wasn’t much time left for the day.
He and Ye Xingli then resumed designing the blueprint for a magical artifact suitable for the Golden Core Realm, accumulating resources for future Dao Seed enhancements.
Zhang Yu mused inwardly, “Martial dao techniques are merely a stepping stone. To ascend rapidly and reach greater heights in the future, I’ll need to delve into daoist arts, artifact refinement, and related disciplines.”
“Indeed,” Immortal Slayer remarked. “From its lowest levels to its highest echelons, the Myriad Laws Sect is constantly advancing and perfecting Immortal Dao Technology.”
“Control, leadership, and monopoly over Immortal Dao Technology are the true currency of power within this system. Its ultimate masterpiece is the Dao Lineage.”
“Therefore… to attain higher ranks and greater authority within this system, one must drive the advancement of Immortal Dao Technology, lead its progress, and pioneer its innovation. This is what Immortals consider a true talent.”
Just as Zhang Yu was seizing every moment to accumulate resources, he suddenly felt a slight swelling in his lower abdomen, Bai Zhenzhen was reaching out again.
“Yu Zi, are you done for the day?”
“Your leader really values you, assigning you so much work right after you arrived.”
“I’m still stuck on the sidelines, constantly studying materials…”
After exchanging a few words with Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu noticed True Monarch Starfire’s avatar.
Unlike True Monarch Starfire’s previous avatar, the current one exuded an air of elegant refinement. He looked not only much younger but also brimming with vitality, resembling a handsome young man in his early twenties.
“Did Teacher Starfire deliberately change his avatar after becoming younger?”
Zhang Yu knew that True Monarch Starfire’s rejuvenated appearance had begun after he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and it had accelerated dramatically after entering the sect.
“Could it be the immortal aura?”
Information about immortal aura flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind: “Within the Sect Layers from the Eleventh to Twentieth Layers, the concentration of immortal aura increases with each higher level.”
“And the higher the concentration of immortal aura, the greater its benefits for cultivators.”
“The immortal aura concentration on the Eleventh Layer is approximately between 0.1% and 1%. This is enough to grant cultivators near-eternal youth, preserving their prime appearance until their natural lifespan ends…”
Zhang Yu had to admit that while the sect had high standards and demanding tasks, the benefits were truly exceptional. No wonder everyone was scrambling to stay.
In the days that followed, Zhang Yu threw himself into his work, and over twenty days passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, as he advanced another cultivation art to level 40, Zhang Yu’s Nascent Soul Sacred Body reached 27/13.
With a thought, thirteen cultivation arts transformed into nourishment, fully infusing his Nascent Soul Sacred Body.
The initial Nascent Soul Sacred Body gained three special effects when its cultivation art count reached 6/10, 8/10, and 10/10: increased Nascent Soul separation distance, enhanced Nascent Soul cultivation art amplification, and improved Nascent Soul cultivation art efficiency and effects.
After activating the Infinite Chain Formation Diagram, when the Nascent Soul Sacred Body’s data reached 12/12, a fourth special effect unlocked: Nascent Soul Sacred Body effects enhanced by 20%.
Now, Zhang Yu’s Nascent Soul Sacred Body had unlocked its fifth special effect: Infinite - Nascent Soul Sacred Body (14/14) Nascent Soul Sacred Body effects enhanced by 20%.
Observing the fifth-tier effect, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “As expected, it seems the future enhancements to the Nascent Soul Sacred Body will likely continue to be 20% boosts.”
In that instant, Zhang Yu felt his Nascent Soul tremble under the Sacred Body’s augmentation. Imperceptibly, his understanding and mastery of various cultivation arts deepened.
If he were to learn a new cultivation art now, Zhang Yu was confident he could quickly advance it to Level 40.
Even without binding it to the Feather Book’s specialization, Zhang Yu felt that with his sixteen Monsterfolk Clones and the Nascent Soul Sacred Body alone, learning a Nascent Soul cultivation art wouldn’t be too slow.
The next two days of work confirmed Zhang Yu’s intuition.
Not only did his cultivation art progress accelerate, but simulating arts with the Formless Martial Art became noticeably easier.
“This saves me at least one to two hours each day,” Zhang Yu mused inwardly, pleased. “As my Nascent Soul Sacred Body continues to improve, I’ll have more and more free time every day.”
What would he do with the extra time?
Zhang Yu’s answer, of course, was to complete even more work.
As Zhang Yu immersed himself in his work, silently accumulating his own foundation, time slipped by unnoticed until February 1st arrived.
“Zhang Yu, has he been in your group for a month now?”
Hearing the voice from the Dharma Realm, Yi Quzhi, Group Leader of Martial Dao Group Three, hastily replied, “Yes, it’s been exactly one month…”
Unlike his usual demeanor when addressing his subordinates, Yi Quzhi’s face now wore an expression of utmost reverence. He instinctively hunched forward, listening intently to the voice from the Dharma Realm.
The reason for Yi Quzhi’s deference, bordering on obsequiousness, was simple: he was speaking to Lu Hengzhang, the Deputy Minister of the Review Department, who held the 4th Rank.
Although Lu Hengzhang’s rank was only one level higher than Yi Quzhi’s, the gap between them was far greater than the difference between Yi Quzhi and a Level 1 Sect Staff member.
The entire Martial Dao Groups One, Two, and Three fell under Lu Hengzhang’s jurisdiction.
This Deputy Minister of the Review Department was none other than the interviewer who had grilled Zhang Yu about his Civil Engineering “dark history” during his job interview.
Hearing Lu Hengzhang inquire about Zhang Yu’s performance, Yi Quzhi elaborated: “I saw great potential in Zhang Yu and assigned him numerous tasks. However, based on his current performance, he seems to lack the necessary skills and hasn’t been performing well.”
Over the past month, Yi Quzhi had not only given Zhang Yu the initial 24 sets of basic cultivation arts but also frequently assigned him additional tasks.
These included tedious documentation work, reviewing obscure basic cultivation arts, and time-consuming audits of basic mental cultivation techniques.
In essence, Yi Quzhi had delegated all the most cumbersome, unproductive, and time-wasting cultivation art reviews to Zhang Yu.
In Yi Quzhi’s view, each new task was like another mountain, transforming into his heavy hand, firmly suppressing Zhang Yu to the Level 1 Sect Staff position.
After listening to Yi Quzhi’s report, Lu Hengzhang offered a few neutral remarks and ended the communication.
Yi Quzhi breathed a sigh of relief. He knew his superior never revealed his true feelings, never betraying any emotion in front of subordinates.
The fact that the other party could calmly listen to his report indicated satisfaction with his work.
Indeed, it was Lu Hengzhang, the Deputy Minister of the Review Department, who had instructed Yi Quzhi to suppress Zhang Yu.
“Zhang Yu, you can only blame your poor background,” Lu Hengzhang had said. “But you’re still young. Settle in under my wing, and who knows, in a few decades, you might get your chance.”
After ending the call, Yi Quzhi, having fulfilled his leader’s request, relaxed and connected to the Internal Dharma Realm. With accelerated thought processes, he joined the Review Department’s monthly meeting.
Before the meeting began, Luo Wuji, the Minister of the Review Department, flashed a faint smile and nodded at Yi Quzhi’s projection.
Feeling the smile of this Level 5 Sect Staff member, Yi Quzhi was taken aback, then filled with anticipation. “Is the Minister trying to curry favor with me?”
He racked his brain, desperately searching for any reason why the Minister might have smiled at him.
The Review Department’s meeting proceeded methodically. The previous month’s performance of each review group was listed, and the leaders began offering their critiques.
When the results of Martial Dao Groups One, Two, and Three were simultaneously displayed, Yi Quzhi initially paid little attention.
Generally, Martial Dao Group One always led by a wide margin, while Martial Dao Group Three’s monthly performance was roughly on par with Martial Dao Group Two’s.
“But this month, we piled a lot of tasks on Zhang Yu. I’m afraid our performance won’t match Martial Dao Group Two’s…”
However, the next moment, as the data appeared on the projection screen, Yi Quzhi’s mind went blank with shock.
Staring at Martial Dao Group Three’s overwhelmingly superior performance, Yi Quzhi was bewildered. “This… this is our group’s performance? When did we submit so much?”
At the same time, Luo Wuji, the head of the Review Department, smiled and said, “Martial Dao Group Three’s performance has improved dramatically this month. The magnitude of this improvement ranks among the highest across all groups.”
“Especially your new junior member, Zhang Yu. His individual performance score reached an astounding 124 points, surpassing all others in the three Martial Dao Groups.”
“This clearly demonstrates that the review of martial dao techniques still holds significant untapped potential.”
“Indeed, young cultivators should be given greater responsibilities and encouraged to tackle more diverse tasks and challenges.”
“The department has decided to raise the performance evaluation targets for martial dao reviews starting next month…”