Chapter 794: Panicked Like a Pauper
A surging wave of power swept over Zhang Yu, completely suppressing his body.
With a muffled thud, Zhang Yu was slammed flat onto the ground as if by an invisible giant hand.
Bu Yingshu, the one responsible, stared intently at him, her gaze seemingly trying to pierce through every inch of his being, inside and out.
Zhang Yu met her gaze, a flicker of helplessness crossing his mind as he heard her question.
“What a mess…”
Having spent a considerable amount of time with Bu Yingshu, Zhang Yu had never seen her so flustered — panicked like a pauper who had just lost everything.
From this alone, he knew she must have seen the contents of the Great Sage’s Intent.
“The crucial question now is…” Zhang Yu meticulously observed Bu Yingshu’s eyes, her facial expressions, the fluctuations of her magic power, not missing a single detail.
He thought to himself, “What is this Immortal Clan noblewoman’s psychological and mental state right now?”
“Has she been influenced by the Great Sage’s Intent?”
“Will she see me as an ally? Or will she try to silence me? Or is her own mind still in chaos…?”
Zhang Yu couldn’t be sure of any of this, so he decided to probe her current state as cautiously as possible.
“Dao Monarch?” Zhang Yu asked. “What’s wrong?”
Bu Yingshu snorted coldly. “Stop playing dumb with me. You felt that intent just now, didn’t you? You saw all those memories, too, didn’t you?!”
The moment the Great Sage’s Intent descended, Bu Yingshu had sensed that although it was aimed at her, Zhang Yu, standing beside her, had also been caught in its wake.
At this thought, Bu Yingshu clenched her jaw, cursing inwardly, “Damn it… That Great Sage’s Intent was specifically targeting me… Am I really the chosen Great Sage’s Heir?”
But deep down, she refused to accept it.
“Impossible! I am a noble of the Myriad Laws Immortal Clan! How could I possibly be some damn Great Sage’s Heir?!”
In that moment, Bu Yingshu felt like she was going mad.
She was like an academic overachiever from Myriad Laws University waking up to find she’d become a junior college student—an unprecedented wave of panic flooded her heart.
The sky was falling!
“Becoming the Great Sage’s Heir is even worse than becoming a junior college student… No… According to the Lower Realm ecological research reports I’ve read, it’s probably not that catastrophically bad.”
“But it’s still awful!”
As a noble lady of the Immortal Clan, she knew all too well the immense power of Upper Kunxu.
Moreover, as one of the proponents of the “Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation” and the representative sent by the Immortal Clan, she had already learned a great deal about the Desolate Ox Great Sage and the Great Sage’s Heir before her mission began.
It was precisely because she understood the fate of a Great Sage’s Heir that she was now in such a panic.
Seeing Zhang Yu’s calm expression, Bu Yingshu felt a surge of anger.
“You have no idea how dangerous this situation is!”
Bu Yingshu glared at Zhang Yu. “Once we’re identified as Great Sage’s Heirs, neither the sects nor the Heavenly Court will spare us.”
Her face filled with worry. “Even I… if I’m captured as a Great Sage’s Heir, I doubt even my Immortal Clan status could protect me!”
“From now on, I’ll have no passive income, no privileges, and all my Innate Certificates will be confiscated! I’ll even have to repay my loans with only my salary!”
Bu Yingshu continued, her face contorted in agony, “I don’t want to live such a hellish life!”
“What the hell…” Zhang Yu thought. “That’s exactly the life I’m living right now.”
Hearing Bu Yingshu’s words, Zhang Yu blinked in confusion. “Huh?”
He asked tentatively, “Dao Monarch, why would that happen?”
“Why? What other reason could there be?” Bu Yingshu said bitterly. “Didn’t you see what happened in those visions? The Desolate Ox Great Sage is a crucial component of Kunxu and a cornerstone of the Spirit Realm.”
“It’s said that those who receive the Great Sage’s Intent will gradually become the Great Sage’s Heir, gaining immense control over the Spirit Realm.”
“So, the Great Sage’s Heir… is the perfect tool for constructing and managing the Spirit Realm. The profits involved are enormous, enough to make the major powers fight tooth and nail to claim it.”
“Not to mention all the other miscellaneous benefits, each of which promises immense profits.”
Bu Yingshu sighed. “And yet, the Great Sage’s Heir, who can generate such vast wealth… is legally classified as a criminal with no rights whatsoever. They can be exploited to death without any consequences!”
“If it weren’t for the regulations, many high-ranking officials would have already tried to mass-produce Great Sage’s Heirs…”
Originally, Zhang Yu had thought that the Great Sage’s Heir, representing the Desolate Ox Great Sage, should be considered rebels in the Kunxu World. He believed they were beings that Upper Kunxu — including the sects, the Heavenly Court, and even the Immortals — would need to eliminate, guard against, and remain vigilant toward to maintain stability.
He had assumed the Heavenly Court’s sudden inspection of the Special Task Force was for this very reason.
But now, listening to Bu Yingshu, Zhang Yu realized his original assumptions were completely wrong.
“To them, the Great Sage’s Heir isn’t a rebel at all… No, even if they were rebels, in the eyes of Kunxu’s elite, they’re still just tools for generating profit.”
Zhang Yu couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself. He then asked, “Aren’t they worried about causing chaos?”
“What chaos could there be?”
Bu Yingshu sighed and said, “How many years have passed since the era of the Desolate Ox Great Sage? The advancements in Immortal Dao Technology have made today’s world completely different from the past.”
“Like I said before, the times have changed. With the great strides in Immortal Dao Technology, what were once risks are no longer insurmountable problems.”
“Otherwise, there wouldn’t be more and more people now… wanting to unlock the Desolate Ox Great Sage’s related Immortal Dao Technologies. The risks involved have long since become smaller and smaller, increasingly insignificant with the progress of the times.”
“If the Desolate Ox Great Sage himself weren’t one of the foundations of the current Spirit Realm, the Great Sage’s Heir wouldn’t be nearly as useful.”
Bu Yingshu inwardly dismissed the various methods of resistance transmitted through the Great Sage’s Intent, such as the Great Sage’s Dao Lineage.
Based on the information she had been exposed to since childhood, these were outdated, antique solutions. Even if they were rediscovered, they would likely prove to be completely worthless.
Zhang Yu listened in silence. He could sense the contempt and disdain Kunxu’s elite held for the Great Sage’s Heir, for the Desolate Ox Great Sage, and for this form of resistance.
The Immortal Slayer in Zhang Yu’s mind sighed faintly. “Kunxu has never feared resistance. Whether it was me and my master, or the Desolate Ox Great Sage, to Kunxu, we were merely an incident, an accident, a new channel for creating profit…”
Just then, Zhang Yu heard the Desolate Ox in his mind say: “Arrogance is also a weakness and a flaw. It is precisely because of the Immortals’ arrogance that we have a chance to fight against them.”
Hearing the Desolate Ox’s sudden interjection, Zhang Yu was startled. “You… you’ve regained your spiritual intelligence?”
The Desolate Ox continued, “I’ve recovered a little. But whether it’s this bit of recovery, the Immortals’ arrogance, or our resistance… ultimately, it will all just push the world further in a direction that benefits the Immortals.”
“A Dao Lineage must be established. Only by having our own Dao Lineage can we truly have a chance to change this world.”
After saying this, the Desolate Ox fell silent again. No matter how Zhang Yu or the Immortal Slayer called out to it, there was no response, as if it had fallen into some kind of deep slumber.
The thoughts in his mind flashed by in an instant. Zhang Yu temporarily set aside his questions about the Desolate Ox and refocused on Bu Yingshu before him.
Summarizing Bu Yingshu’s series of reactions, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “She doesn’t seem to have been changed by the Great Sage’s Intent.”
Zhang Yu recalled the two previous times he had sensed the Great Sage’s Intent.
One tested his courage to resist the Immortals, while the other tested his spirit of sacrifice in sharing his power with his companions.
Zhang Yu could feel that if he had failed to pass these two tests, his consciousness would have become immersed in the Great Sage’s Intent, perhaps undergoing some irreversible change.
“But this time, the Great Sage’s Intent… it doesn’t seem like there was any test?”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Is it because there was no test that there was no change? Did it not affect Bu Yingshu at all?”
“Or has the test and its effects already occurred? And neither Bu Yingshu nor I noticed?”
Zhang Yu didn’t know. But looking at Bu Yingshu before him, and understanding her current state, he had already formed a plan.
He spoke up, “Dao Monarch, it seems we weren’t the only two who sensed that so-called Great Sage’s Intent back then.”
When the Great Sage’s Intent descended, Bu Yingshu had borne the brunt of it. Before she could even perceive the Spirit Realm chaos that Zhang Yu subsequently triggered, her consciousness had already been overwhelmed by the information within the Great Sage’s Intent.
Hearing Zhang Yu’s words now, Bu Yingshu was slightly taken aback. “What did you say?”
After gathering information within the Special Task Force, Bu Yingshu discovered… the entire task force might have sensed the Great Sage’s Intent. She even heard that the entire Myriad Laws Sect, and perhaps the entire Eleventh Layer, had sensed similar Spirit Realm information at that very moment.
“The Great Sage’s Intent swept across the entire Eleventh Layer?” Bu Yingshu froze for a moment, her mind reeling from the shock of this news.
“It stirred the Spirit Realm of an entire layer? This is a major incident the likes of which haven’t been seen in years!”
Bu Yingshu could imagine that the major sects and the Righteous Gods of the Heavenly Court were probably already turning the Eleventh Layer’s Spirit Realm upside down. Few would be paying any attention to the Special Task Force.
A wave of wild joy surged through Bu Yingshu’s heart. “So… I’m in the clear?”
“Excellent, excellent! If everyone sensed the Great Sage’s Intent, then no one will notice anything unusual about us.”
The exhilaration and relief of surviving the ordeal flooded Bu Yingshu’s mind, making her pace back and forth in excitement.
But after learning what the others had heard, that single cry, Bu Yingshu froze again, a flicker of nervousness flashing in her eyes.
“Holy shit? Everyone heard… ‘Holy shit’?”
Bu Yingshu’s heart sank. “Don’t tell me… they sensed my intent?”
She remembered cursing “Holy shit” inwardly when she felt the Great Sage’s Intent descending from the heavens and rushing toward her.
“So I really am the Great Sage’s Heir? Not only did I attract the Great Sage’s Intent, but with a single thought… I stirred the Spirit Realm of the entire Eleventh Layer and transmitted my intent to countless people?”
The thought filled Bu Yingshu with a mixture of terror and dread. “No one can ever find out about this.”
“I’ve cultivated diligently for years,” she thought grimly. “Only this year did my talent finally awaken. I’ve built a solid foundation over the years, and now my potential has been fully unleashed, giving me a chance to soar and climb to the apex of the Immortal Dao! How can I fall here?!”
Fortunately for Bu Yingshu, as long as she kept quiet about the “Holy shit” incident, no one would know. But…
Her gaze shifted to Zhang Yu beside her. “Litle Yu sensed the Great Sage’s Intent with me. Should I silence him?”
But the next moment, Bu Yingshu shook her head. She knew that in this sensitive period — with the Spirit Realm in turmoil and after the surprise inspection — the Special Task Force, which had been exposed to the Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation, was likely under intense scrutiny from the Righteous Gods.
“If something were to happen to Little Yu now, it would likely attract even more attention.”
“Then the only option is…”
Bu Yingshu looked at Zhang Yu and sighed inwardly. “I never thought the day would come when I, a proud Heavenly Chosen of the Myriad Laws Immortal Clan, would end up in the same boat as a Lower Realm Cultivator like him.”
Withdrawing the suppressive force she had been exerting on Zhang Yu, Bu Yingshu made a grasping motion through the air, lifting him from the ground.
“Little Yu,” she began, “you understand the situation now…”
Zhang Yu immediately replied with firm resolve, “Dao Monarch, I remember nothing of what happened here. I know nothing.”
Bu Yingshu nodded slightly, but a sense of unease lingered in her heart. “As I thought… I won’t feel safe until he’s by my side forever.”
At that moment, Bu Yingshu made up her mind. As soon as the Special Task Force’s work was concluded, she would have Zhang Yu transferred under her command, keeping him permanently under her control.
With her thoughts settled, Bu Yingshu refocused her attention on the project.
With a light tap of her fingertip, she displayed the Immortal Dao Technology she had extracted from the Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation.
“She began, ‘Little Yu, you will continue working with me on the combined attack, replicating it in the laboratory…’”
Zhang Yu asked curiously, “Dao Monarch, after the Great Sage’s Intent disrupted the Spirit Realm, will our project still continue?”
With the immediate threat of the Great Sage’s Heir gone, Bu Yingshu’s face regained its usual confidence and composure.
She replied coolly, “Heh… After what happened, how do you think the higher-ups will view the Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation? How will they see the Desolate Ox Great Sage’s technology?”
“Because the Spirit Realm went out of control, they’ll think the Desolate Ox Great Sage’s technology is too dangerous?”
“Impossible.”
“They’ll feel worried about the Desolate Ox Great Sage’s technology because of this incident? Become wary? Want to seal it away?”
“No. After such a major incident, they’ll only conclude that they underestimated the Desolate Ox Great Sage. They will only invest even more resources into researching his work.”