Chapter 831: Zhang Yu’s Goblin Cave?
Inside the Ethereal Communications Department’s conference room.
Zhang Yu rushed in immediately after finishing his meeting. The moment he saw Magnetic Pole and Old Gao, he greeted them with a warm, enthusiastic smile. “Teachers, your student has encountered a difficult problem and needs to trouble you for help once again.”
The slight awkwardness that had formed from their long separation instantly melted away in the face of Zhang Yu’s warmth.
The lingering worries in Magnetic Pole and Old Gao’s hearts also vanished with his respectful attitude.
After all, Magnetic Pole and Old Gao had been training at the sect for two years and had gained a deep understanding of its prevailing culture.
Before meeting Zhang Yu, they couldn’t help but wonder: now that Zhang Yu held a minor position of power within the sect, would he still respect them as he had before? Would their relationship devolve into the typical superior-subordinate dynamic common in the sect?
Or worse… would they, following sect customs, have to be the ones to address Zhang Yu as “Senior,” “Teacher,” or even “Master”?
Old Gao looked at Zhang Yu before him and sighed, “You’re far more capable than us now. We can’t help you much within the sect; ultimately, everything depends on you.”
Magnetic Pole pursed her lips and said, “Alright, stop dawdling. Let’s get straight to the point.”
She turned to Zhang Yu, her voice filled with concern. “This position of yours must be difficult to hold, isn’t it?”
Zhang Yu gave a helpless smile. “Indeed, there are quite a few problems. Let’s talk as we walk.”
A flash of Grotto-Heaven force appeared before Zhang Yu, and a Grotto-Heaven Bridge materialized with a thunderous rumble.
Led by Zhang Yu, the group crossed the bridge and arrived in a vast space — the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, which now spanned over ten kilometers in length, width, and height.
Old Gao was stunned. “Is this the Immortal Grotto-Heaven that Ying Xintian passed down to you? Such a massive independent space! It’s comparable to the legendary Grotto-Heaven treasure lands of ancient times.”
Magnetic Pole was equally astonished. “This Grotto-Heaven of yours must be priceless! Even within the sect, it would be considered top-tier real estate, wouldn’t it?”
Listening to their exclamations, Zhang Yu felt a strange sensation wash over him, like a young person bringing their parents to the city for help and showing them the new house they’d just bought.
Walking behind the trio, Nether Spring silently observed the scene, her eyes filled with unconcealable astonishment. “Just this Grotto-Heaven alone proves Zhang Yu’s Immortal Dao potential is already earth-shattering,” she thought.
Watching Zhang Yu chat and laugh with Old Gao and Magnetic Pole, a flicker of longing crossed Nether Spring’s mind. “If only Wang Yin could be as promising as his Uncle Zhang.”
At the same time, she felt a pang of envy for the bond between Old Gao, Magnetic Pole, and Zhang Yu.
“Back in the Lower Realm, they took great care of Zhang Yu. And Zhang Yu, being a man of old-fashioned loyalty, has formed a deep bond with them.”
“Could I ever have such a bond with Zhang Yu?” Nether Spring shook her head. “A bond of friendship is probably impossible. A bond of performance, a bond of foundation, or even a bond of chickens… those are more likely.”
At that moment, Divine Monarch Nether Spring’s mind raced with various tidbits about the sect’s culture.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu waved his hand dismissively. “Theoretically, the Immortal Grotto-Heaven is an asset of the Myriad Laws Sect. I’m merely managing it on their behalf.”
He then briefly explained the general details of the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, including its size and the Grotto-Heaven Bridges.
Magnetic Pole took a deep breath, cycling the spiritual energy in the air. “Although this Grotto-Heaven doesn’t produce spiritual energy on its own, you have corpse components for breathing techniques and ten Grotto-Heaven Bridges scattered throughout the labyrinth, connecting you to the outside world’s spiritual energy. For now, it seems sufficient.”
Old Gao sensed the spiritual energy and remarked, “The spiritual energy here is almost as dense as in the Former Days Graveyard outside.”
Zhang Yu explained, “I’ve kept the Grotto-Heaven Bridges open these past few days, linking the inner and outer realms, to ensure the Grotto-Heaven has enough spiritual energy. This will facilitate the operation of various corpse components within the Grotto-Heaven.”
He then outlined his reconstruction plan. “Tomorrow, I’ll restore the spatial structure of the Office District in the labyrinth.”
Although Zhang Yu could restore the entire labyrinth’s spatial structure at once, doing so would weaken his authority. To maintain his authority and expand his influence within the Management Committee, he had divided the restoration process into several steps.
“When the cleanup begins,” Zhang Yu continued, “all departments will work together to suppress the berserk corpse components in the Office District.”
“Teacher Magnetic Pole, Divine Monarch Nether Spring, I’ll need to trouble you both to help me manage the corpse components within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.”
“In the future, besides using some corpse components directly for combat, I hope to use our existing components — and those we suppress later — to establish laboratories and production lines within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven. These will be used to refine and upgrade our magical artifacts and Bionics.”
Zhang Yu knew that despite his immense power, enhanced by various cultivation arts, Chain Formation Diagrams, and Dao Seeds, he was practically a blank slate when it came to equipment like magical artifacts and Bionics.
After all, since advancing to the Nascent Soul realm, Zhang Yu had been through the University War and the Sect Examination. After joining the sect, he had been constantly busy with work, researching the Sect-Guarding Technique, and competing for the Immortal Legacy. He had never had a chance to properly upgrade his magical artifacts, let alone his Bionics, and his artifact refinement skills had long stagnated.
“This is the perfect opportunity… By clearing the labyrinth, I can acquire a large amount of raw materials and equipment. With Teacher Magnetic Pole and Nether Spring’s help, I can build my own laboratories and production lines within the Grotto-Heaven…”
Zhang Yu could imagine that once his 32 avatars were each equipped with various magical artifacts and Bionics, his overall work capability would see another significant boost, allowing him to gain even more authority within the Management Committee.
“And there’s Teacher Magnetic Pole’s Dao Seed, [Encyclopedia of Celestial Technology]. I can take this opportunity to upgrade it as well.”
Zhang Yu’s gaze swept over Nether Spring. “I wonder if Divine Monarch Nether Spring… has a Dao Seed?”
Then he turned to Old Gao and said, “Teacher Gao, once the cleanup plan begins, I’ll need you to accompany me into the labyrinth to assist with the cleanup and use your Civil Engineering skills to gather some materials.”
Just then, Feng Tingting and Shi Huaiyu, who were organizing corpse components in the distance, approached and proactively greeted Zhang Yu and the three Spirit Transformation cultivators.
Using the Thought Membrane Seal, Zhang Yu quickly transmitted the upcoming work arrangements to them. He then led them out of the Immortal Grotto-Heaven and back to the Ethereal Communications Department office, where he had Yu Xinghan take the three newcomers to complete their onboarding procedures.
Seeing the salary of 2,000 Immortal Coins, Magnetic Pole and the other two were slightly surprised. Having undergone two years of training, they knew exactly what 2,000 Immortal Coins meant.
Old Gao thought to himself, “Isn’t 2,000 Immortal Coins the salary of a Rank 1 Sect Staff? Most contractors definitely don’t earn this much.”
Yu Xinghan, standing nearby, seemed to notice their surprise and smiled. “Teacher Gao, Senior Magnetic Pole, Senior Nether Spring, this salary was specially requested for you by Zhang Yu. It’s essentially the highest starting salary for expert-level contractors. Any further raises will have to wait until next year.”
It wasn’t just the salaries of Magnetic Pole’s group; Zhang Yu had also specially increased the wages of the two contractors, Shi Huaiyu and Feng Tingting.
Furthermore, under the pretext of a transfer, Zhang Yu had appointed Yu Xinghan and Ye Xingli as his secretary and assistant, respectively, promoting them both to Rank 2.
Whenever Yu Xinghan thought about this, he couldn’t help but feel emotional. A rank promotion that might have taken him ten years to achieve had been granted with a single transfer order from Zhang Yu.
This realization made Yu Xinghan feel the importance of power and influence within the sect more keenly than ever.
Time flew, and the next day arrived. A violent tremor shook the Secret Realm. Under Zhang Yu’s control, the inverted and chaotic spatial structure of the labyrinth’s Office District gradually stabilized, returning to its normal state piece by piece.
As the distorted light rays and disordered building clusters returned to normal, the eyes of the Management Committee leaders and their subordinate officials glinted with anticipation, already envisioning immense profits.
In an instant, a large group of cultivators surged into the restored Office District to begin the cleanup operation.
The first step was to suppress all the berserk corpse components.
Zhang Yu soared into the sky, leading Old Gao into the district. He was the only President or Vice President of the Management Committee to personally take action at this moment.
This was because the equipment and corpse components in the Office District were generally low-grade, and the potential profits held little appeal for Tribulation Transcendence and Void Refinement Realm cultivators. They preferred to invest their efforts elsewhere, usually on their own assets.
As for the current Office District cleanup operation, they delegated it to their Spirit Transformation Realm subordinates. After completing the task, the subordinates would simply submit a portion of the profits to their superiors.
Only when the Factory District and Laboratory District opened up later would the Void Refinement Cultivators even consider intervening personally.
This was the operational rule for most departments within the Sect Layers.
Superiors assigned projects to their subordinates. Upon completion, the subordinates submitted a portion of the profits to their superiors, who in turn invested most of their own efforts into peer-level projects to generate profits, which they then passed up to their own superiors.
At this moment, Vice President Xie Lanyin’s projection silently watched Zhang Yu take action. She thought to herself, “A Spirit Transformation cultivator is still just a Spirit Transformation cultivator. To personally handle such paltry profits… truly beneath notice.”
The next instant, her form flickered and vanished, just like the projections of the other leaders.
Meanwhile, brilliant flashes of light erupted throughout the Secret Realm as cultivators began suppressing the corpse components.
Old Gao threw a punch, and countless distorted ripples appeared in the air. His Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power gathered vast swaths of berserk corpse components together, causing them to float in mid-air like small mountains.
Simultaneously, Zhang Yu’s Grotto-Heaven Manifestation appeared, covering a one-kilometer radius and overlapping with the material world.
All the small mountains of corpse components thrown by Old Gao were instantly absorbed into the Grotto-Heaven as soon as they came within one kilometer of Zhang Yu.
Magnetic Pole then led Nether Spring, Shi Huaiyu, and Feng Tingting to begin sorting and organizing the corpse components.
Although Magnetic Pole’s initial understanding of corpse components was limited, she had spent the previous night under Zhang Yu’s paid acceleration, cramming knowledge about the various aspects of the Former Days Graveyard’s corpse components. Now, with Nether Spring’s assistance, everything was proceeding smoothly.
As Zhang Yu sensed the continuous influx of corpse components into his Grotto-Heaven, a thought stirred in his mind.
Previously, Zhang Yu had only detected Grotto-Heaven force within the berserk corpse components after reaching the Factory District. He had initially assumed that only the berserk corpse components in the Factory District and Laboratory District of the labyrinth contained Grotto-Heaven force.
However, after his Immortal Descendant ability reached Level 6, he began to faintly sense Grotto-Heaven force even within the berserk corpse components of the Office District, albeit in smaller quantities than in other areas.
Now, personally handling a large number of berserk corpse components from the Office District confirmed his suspicions.
“So these Office District corpse components… really do contain Grotto-Heaven force?”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Is it because my Immortal Descendant ability leveled up, making my senses more refined and allowing me to finally detect this?”
At that moment, with a wave of Zhang Yu’s hand, wisps of Grotto-Heaven force were extracted from the berserk corpse components and surged toward him.
As this Grotto-Heaven force converged, Zhang Yu felt his Immortal Grotto-Heaven tremble slightly, as if it had just finished a meal, before beginning another slow expansion of its space.
Simultaneously, the berserk corpse components, which had been struggling fiercely, instantly quieted down as their internal Grotto-Heaven force was absorbed into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven before them. They completely submitted to Zhang Yu, becoming Grotto-Heaven Divine Beasts within this domain.
Although Magnetic Pole and Nether Spring’s eyes flickered with surprise at the sudden pacification of the corpse components, they weren’t overly shocked. After all, Zhang Yu had already given them a brief explanation of this phenomenon beforehand.
As for the reason and the specific principles? If anyone asked, the answer was always the same: “The mysteries of the Immortal Legacy.”
While Zhang Yu’s group was clearing large swathes of berserk corpse components, other cleanup teams observed him from a distance.
Among them was Tu Mu, the Director of the Construction Bureau, a Rank 4 Sect Staff and Spirit Transformation Cultivator.
The Construction Bureau was a subordinate agency of the Management Committee, responsible for planning and constructing all engineering projects, buildings, and land development within the Former Days Graveyard Development Zone.
Watching Zhang Yu personally handle the cleanup, Tu Mu thought to himself, “Logically, as the Vice President of the Management Committee, Zhang Yu is in charge of land planning, engineering, and infrastructure in the Former Days Graveyard Development Zone. That makes him my direct superior.”
“But my superior… aside from his Immortal Grotto-Heaven, he seems far too weak. He’s even stooping to snatching projects from his own subordinate.”
When Tu Mu saw Old Gao assisting Zhang Yu, and caught glimpses of Magnetic Pole, Nether Spring, Shi Huaiyu, and Feng Tingting appearing within the Grotto-Heaven Manifestation, his brow furrowed unconsciously.
“He hasn’t even warmed his seat yet, and he’s already brought in so many stinking Lower Realm Cultivators. I heard many of them even have backgrounds in civil engineering. Tsk.”
“If he keeps this up, is he trying to turn the Former Days Graveyard into a den for Lower Realm Cultivators?”
To put it in Earth terms, Zhang Yu’s actions, in the eyes of many cultivators in the Former Days Graveyard, were akin to building a goblin cave.
A subordinate beside Tu Mu added, “I heard he also transferred two Lower Realm Cultivators from other departments to serve directly as his secretary and assistant.”
“I heard the other Vice Presidents are quite displeased with Vice President Zhang’s actions.”
Tu Mu’s brow furrowed even tighter at the words. Though he wasn’t a supporter of the Innate Dao Lineage, he deeply disliked the practice of promoting Lower Realm Cultivators. After all, if this continued, wouldn’t it just increase the competition in the Upper Realm?
The subordinate beside him asked again, “Director, should we still hand over the corpse components we collected today to Vice President Zhang?”
Tu Mu replied coldly, “Have the other teams handed theirs over?”
Besides Vice President Zhang, who was in charge of land management, and Tu Mu from the Construction Bureau, many other teams had participated in the corpse component cleanup.
These teams included cultivators from various departments like Public Security, Sanitation, and Urban Management, as well as personnel hired by sect-affiliated enterprises, each with different backgrounds.
The subordinate reported, “I checked. So far, no one has handed their corpse components over to Vice President Zhang for processing.”
Tu Mu said flatly, “Since no one else is handing them over, why should we be in such a hurry?”
Tu Mu, from the Netherworld Sect, snorted coldly. “That Traitor Immortal Ying Xintian was known for his Grotto-Heaven force. I’ve never heard of him having any expertise in corpse components.”
“We might not be able to compete with Zhang Yu from the Myriad Laws Sect in Grotto-Heaven Technology, but corpse components are our specialty. Are we really going to let him outdo us in our own field?”
“He wants everyone to hand over all the collected corpse components for him to process? I think he’s just using this as an excuse to extort us and seek benefits.”
Tu Mu coldly watched Zhang Yu, who was still busy in the distance, and thought, I wonder what countermeasures this Vice President, a mere Rank 4 Sect Staff member, will come up with next.
If he has none, then there’s no need to take him seriously in the future.