Chapter 834: Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, What Are You Doing?
Feeling the Yin Qi sweeping through the world, Bai Zhenzhen exhaled a puff of warm air and immediately saw a penalty notice for Yang Qi pollution.
But at this moment, Bai Zhenzhen had no time to worry about such things. Her mind was entirely consumed with pondering the mysterious person’s intentions.
“What exactly does he want?”
Ever since Bai Zhenzhen was targeted by that mysterious person, he had frequently guided her in various sword techniques and Sword Dao principles, causing her Sword Dao cultivation to advance day and night, far surpassing her previous rate of progress.
Beyond that, Bai Zhenzhen had also made occasional advancements in the Heavenly Sword Sect’s power structure.
Especially in the last six months, the mysterious person had pushed her into the position of a Rank 4 Sect Staff, allowing her to smoothly break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm.
But the more this happened, the more uneasy Bai Zhenzhen felt.
She could sense the mysterious person’s undisguised malice and had heard countless stories within the Heavenly Sword Sect — tales of those who were initially elevated to great heights, only to suffer a devastating fall.
“Those cultivators of the Bliss Sword Dao will stop at nothing. For them, using their power to elevate or ruin a cultivator is as easy as breathing.”
Bai Zhenzhen sighed inwardly. “And often, they do all this… just for their amusement, to enhance their own Sword Dao cultivation.”
As she pondered, her target location appeared in her mind’s eye: the Safety Supervision Bureau.
As an agency under the Management Committee, the Safety Supervision Bureau was responsible for overseeing production safety, construction safety, and other related matters within the Development Zone.
Bai Zhenzhen speculated on the mysterious person’s intentions in placing her in this position, a faint sense of foreboding creeping into her heart.
Just then, Wen Wuya, who was beside her, asked, “Zhenzhen, should we go see Zhang Yu first, or head to the Safety Supervision Bureau?”
Wen Wuya, a cultivator born on the Tenth Layer of Kunxu and a former Spirit Transformation Disciple, had interned at the Heavenly Sword Sect with Bai Zhenzhen for nearly a year. She had finally succeeded in the last Sect Examination.
This time, she had come to the Former Days Graveyard as Bai Zhenzhen’s subordinate.
An image of Zhang Yu flashed through Bai Zhenzhen’s mind, and a smile involuntarily touched her lips, seemingly dispelling much of the unease she felt about the mysterious person.
“Let’s go see Yu Zi first.”
A short while later, before the Grotto-Heaven Bridge at the labyrinth’s entrance.
Bai Zhenzhen watched Zhang Yu’s figure materialize before her and couldn’t help but smile again. “Yu Zi.”
Zhang Yu grinned back and pointed to the Spirit Realm Projection above his head: Vice President of the Development Zone Management Committee.
Then he asked, “Impressive, right?”
Bai Zhenzhen stared at Zhang Yu’s title and teased, “Vice President of the Management Committee… Whose coattails did you ride this time? How did you manage to get pushed into this position? My dear son, in the blink of an eye, you’ve become old enough to be a father yourself.”
At the same time, Bai Zhenzhen’s Spirit Realm profile appeared in Zhang Yu’s vision.
“A-Zhen, your skill at latching onto powerful backers hasn’t diminished over the years,” Zhang Yu remarked. “Besides me, you were probably the best at it among the students from the first Sect Examination. Truly my good daughter.”
Zhang Yu looked at Bai Zhenzhen before him. She was still the same as ever — agile and slender, with long hair that flowed freely in the wind.
But a shadow of irresolvable worry seemed to linger between her brows.
Zhang Yu asked, “What’s wrong? You look like you’re drowning in debt. Are you going to kneel and beg your dad to help you pay it off?”
He then nodded to Wen Wuya beside them in greeting.
“Dad!” Bai Zhenzhen immediately grasped Zhang Yu’s hands. “Let’s talk inside your Grotto-Heaven. There are too many people here. I’ll kneel for you inside.”
Zhang Yu hadn’t expected Bai Zhenzhen to actually take his casual remark seriously and agree to kneel.
An image flashed through his mind: Bai Zhenzhen kneeling on the ground, clinging to his leg back in their first year at Songyang High School.
“A-Zhen, are you really in a lot of debt lately?”
He reached out, took Bai Zhenzhen’s hand, and together with Wen Wuya following behind, they crossed into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
As they stepped over the Grotto-Heaven Bridge and beheld the vast world unfolding before them, both Bai Zhenzhen and Wen Wuya’s eyes widened in astonishment.
Especially recently, as Zhang Yu had been absorbing massive amounts of Grotto-Heaven force from the Berserk Corpse Components each day, the entire Immortal Grotto-Heaven had expanded noticeably, increasingly resembling a Small World.
At the same time, they both felt their connection to the Spirit Realm sever.
This was because Zhang Yu’s Immortal Grotto-Heaven was not yet linked to the Spirit Realm.
Feeling the complete disconnection from the Spirit Realm and the shifting spatial structure around them, Bai Zhenzhen let out a slight sigh of relief.
However, for added security, she still used Evil God Power to communicate with Zhang Yu telepathically.
“Don’t worry, your mom isn’t in debt. It’s just… I’ve been targeted by a high-ranking member of the Heavenly Sword Sect recently… I have a feeling this guy is using all sorts of methods to monitor me.”
Bai Zhenzhen briefly explained the situation, clarifying why she had been contacting Zhang Yu less frequently lately.
Fearing the mysterious person would discover their secrets, they rarely had deep conversations through the Spirit Realm.
Moreover, since Zhang Yu had been in the Minor Realm of the Former Days Graveyard these past days, they were in different spaces, making it difficult to communicate even with Evil God Power.
The exchange of the Immortal Spirit Root was even more out of the question. Bai Zhenzhen worried that the teleportation would cause too much of a disturbance and attract the mysterious person’s attention. She didn’t even dare ask Zhang Yu to temporarily leave the Former Days Graveyard to perform the Spirit Root exchange.
Listening to Bai Zhenzhen’s explanation, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but frown. “What’s the background of this mysterious person? A-Zhen, do you know?”
Bai Zhenzhen shook her head. “I only know that this person holds a high position in the Heavenly Sword Sect. In fact, my assignment to the Development Zone was single-handedly arranged by him. His power and influence are likely astonishing.”
As Bai Zhenzhen spoke, Fu Ji was already analyzing the situation in Zhang Yu’s mind. “This mysterious person claims to be looking for ‘fun.’ Could it be that he wants to help Bai Zhenzhen soar to great heights, only to crush her utterly and enjoy the thrill of manipulating her life?”
Immortal Slayer, however, countered, “Those madmen from the Heavenly Sword Sect have long grown tired of that kind of thrill. It’s rare to find someone who has successfully cultivated the old version of the Extreme Emotion Sword Dao. I suspect they’ll naturally approach it from that angle.”
“Perhaps they want to deepen our bond with Bai Zhenzhen, only to snatch her away and viciously humiliate her, savoring the emotional torment that has become so rare within the sect.”
The Sect Examination Clone heard this and let out a cold snort, scoffing disdainfully. “Absurd. Why would the experts of the Heavenly Sword Sect care about the filthy emotions of Lower Realm natives? If they don’t care, how could they derive pleasure from destroying them?”
Fu Ji asked, “Then what do you think it is?”
The Sect Examination Clone replied, “I’m not privy to the bizarre thoughts swirling in the minds of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s experts. How could I possibly guess?”
Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen waved Wen Wuya over. “I need to speak with Zhang Yu alone. Wuya, wait for me here.”
With that, two beams of divine light shot into the sky. Bai Zhenzhen and Zhang Yu had already arrived at a secluded spot.
The next moment, Bai Zhenzhen embraced Zhang Yu from behind, urgently trying to align their Spirit Roots. “Yu Zi, I’m coming in!”
It had been a long time since her Immortal Spirit Root had been nourished, and they hadn’t exchanged them to stimulate and adapt, which would have enhanced her strength.
Bai Zhenzhen, dedicated to reaching the apex of the Immortal Dao, was now desperate the moment she saw Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu said, “We’re in the Immortal Grotto-Heaven now. You don’t have to worry about being discovered. We can teleport and exchange remotely. It doesn’t have to be as troublesome as before.”
Bai Zhenzhen advised, “That’s too rough. I feel it’s better to push in slowly. The adaptation and nourishment of the Spirit Roots will be more effective that way.”
Zhang Yu asked doubtfully, “Really?”
Bai Zhenzhen replied, “It’s my Spirit Root. I’m sure my senses are sharper than yours! Trust me, I’m right.”
After a moment, Bai Zhenzhen took a deep breath and said, “Yu Zi, it’s been so long since we last exchanged… You’ve changed so much. It feels a bit slow to adapt. If I went out now and someone saw me, they’d probably notice something’s off right away.”
Zhang Yu nodded, feeling the unique sensation spreading wildly through his Immortal Spirit Root. “No rush. We’ll take our time. I’m the Vice President of the Management Committee now. No one can disturb us.”
“If anyone asks where you’ve been for so long, just say I called you for a meeting.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu looked at the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo on his Dao Seed Register and thought to himself, “To upgrade A-Zhen’s Azure Lotus Sword Embryo to level 5, I need to nourish it with 30 level 50 cultivation arts.”
“Perfect. I’ve cultivated quite a few Spirit Transformation cultivation arts over the past six months. They’ll be perfect for nourishing this Immortal Spirit Root one by one.”
“This Azure Lotus Sword Embryo is already an Immortal Spirit Root-level existence. I wonder what it will become if I continue to upgrade it.”
Meanwhile, a streak of light flashed across the sky above the Former Days Graveyard, stirring countless Spirit Realm messages and instantly alarming a large number of Soul Cultivators.
“What was that? An Immortal Shuttle?”
“Was that Vice President Zhang’s Immortal Shuttle?”
“Doesn’t look like it… It seems much more powerful.”
Inside this Immortal Shuttle, Bu Yingshu rested her chin on her hand, frowning at the contact list displayed before her. She sent another message to Zhang Yu.
“Where did that guy Zhang Yu go? Why aren’t you replying to my messages? And why didn’t you come to pick me up?”
Bu Yingshu knew Zhang Yu hadn’t come to pick her up because she hadn’t given him any advance notice of her arrival.
But she refused to notify him beforehand.
After all, the mere fact that she had to come find Zhang Yu to discuss investment matters already left a sour taste in her mouth.
“If I had to communicate with him in advance, wouldn’t it seem like I was making an appointment with him, like I was applying for his time?”
“Who needs to make an appointment to visit their own cat or dog in their bed?
The moment the master arrives, the pets should happily swarm around, roll over to expose their bellies, and let their master do as they please.
Bu Yingshu believed this was the proper dynamic between a master and their pet, the natural order of things.
So she decided to come whenever she pleased and simply contact him upon arrival to be picked up.
Recalling her previous encounters with Zhang Yu, she thought, ‘Logically, that wretched pet should be thoroughly tamed by now, completely obedient to me. Knowing I’ve arrived, shouldn’t he be rushing to receive me?’
Thinking about how Zhang Yu hadn’t proactively contacted her recently, Bu Yingshu’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘If he’s not behaving, it must mean that wretched pet has developed some rebellious ideas after becoming Vice President.’
As she stared at the profile picture that remained stubbornly unresponsive, Bu Yingshu’s frown deepened.
She scanned the Spirit Realm messages and steered the Immortal Shuttle directly to the corpse component registration area.
As the Immortal Shuttle descended, the queue of cultivators waiting to register their finds instantly dissolved into chaos.
“An Immortal Shuttle is here!”
“Watch out! Don’t get hit! We can’t afford to pay for that!”
“Don’t look! Don’t take pictures! Just run!”
Watching the cultivators scatter like birds and beasts, Bu Yingshu remained unconcerned.
She scanned the profiles of the personnel on-site that appeared inside the Immortal Shuttle, then steered it directly in front of Shi Huaiyu and Feng Tingting. The outsourced cultivators, who had been maintaining their invisibility, materialized instantly.
Overwhelmed by the oppressive aura radiating from the Immortal Shuttle and the countless Spirit Realm warnings flashing before their eyes, Shi Huaiyu and Feng Tingting had already dropped to their knees with a thud, closing their eyes and bracing for death.
But then they heard Bu Yingshu’s voice. “Where is Zhang Yu? Tell him to come see me immediately.”
Hearing her question, Feng Tingting felt a surge of ecstatic relief at having escaped death. She quickly replied, “Vice President Zhang should still be in the Immortal Grotto-Heaven. The Spirit Realm doesn’t have coverage there, so he’s sometimes slow to respond to messages.”
Bu Yingshu nodded, but then frowned slightly. “The excuse is plausible,” she thought, “but… is he really not just brushing me off?”
She wanted to see for herself whether Zhang Yu genuinely hadn’t received her message or had received it and was deliberately slighting her.
With a slight tremor, the Immortal Shuttle pulled Shi Huaiyu and Feng Tingting inside.
“You two, come with me into the Grotto-Heaven to find him.”
The next moment, the Immortal Shuttle flashed like a bolt of lightning, instantly streaking toward the nearby Grotto-Heaven Bridge.
Zhang Yu had established this Grotto-Heaven Bridge here, keeping it permanently open for the daily collection of corpse components.
With a single burst of speed, the Immortal Shuttle shot through the bridge and entered Zhang Yu’s Immortal Grotto-Heaven directly.
The instant the shuttle crossed into the Grotto-Heaven, a terrifying fluctuation emanated from its hull, sweeping across the entire Grotto-Heaven Space and scouring every corner.
“So he really is in the Immortal Grotto-Heaven and didn’t receive my message.” Bu Yingshu’s brow relaxed slightly as she reviewed the scan results. But in the next moment, her gaze sharpened. “Someone from the Heavenly Sword Sect? Why is their coordinate so close to Zhang Yu’s?”
As she uttered the words “Heavenly Sword Sect,” a palpable disgust filled her eyes.
The next instant, a low hum seemed to resonate through the air.
The Immortal Shuttle vanished and reappeared in the blink of an eye, hovering directly above Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.
Startled by the shuttle’s sudden appearance, Bai Zhenzhen instinctively released Zhang Yu from her embrace. Her body surged with sword qi as she moved to shield him.
Zhang Yu, however, reacted quickly. He immediately guessed that the Immortal Shuttle almost certainly belonged to Bu Yingshu.
Fearing Bai Zhenzhen might offend the powerful woman, Zhang Yu immediately pulled her behind him and said, “Daoist Lord Bu, what brings you here? Had I known you were coming, I would have cleared my schedule to welcome you personally.”
Bai Zhenzhen listened to Zhang Yu’s words and stared at the Immortal Shuttle, thinking, Has Zhang Yu been dealing with such a dangerous woman all this time?
Using her Evil God Power, she sent a mental message to Zhang Yu: “Yu Zi, didn’t you say you had Bu Yingshu completely under your control? This doesn’t look like it.”
Bu Yingshu seemed satisfied with Zhang Yu’s attitude, but her gaze fell on the Heavenly Sword Sect cultivator beside him. “What are you two doing?” she asked, her voice laced with suspicion. “The Immortal Shuttle detected traces of each other’s magic power within your bodies.”
“The shuttle can even detect that?” Zhang Yu was momentarily stunned. I absolutely cannot mention the Spirit Root exchange.
He and Bai Zhenzhen exchanged a quick glance. Bai Zhenzhen spoke up first. “I am the newly appointed Director of the Safety Supervision Bureau. I came to seek guidance from Vice President Zhang… for dual cultivation!”
Bai Zhenzhen knew that compared to something as taboo as exchanging Immortal Spirit Roots, dual cultivation between a superior and subordinate was considered perfectly normal business within the Myriad Laws Sect’s hierarchy.
Bu Yingshu thought, “So that’s it. Zhang Yu is engaging in… ‘external relations’ for the sect’s benefit. That’s quite normal.”
Just as she was starting to believe everything was fine, she glanced at the Immortal Shuttle’s detection report, and her brows furrowed again.
Wait, this Heavenly Sword Sect cultivator is completely sterile.
They weren’t dual cultivating. What were they really doing? Why are they lying to me?
Bu Yingshu’s voice turned icy. “Zhang Yu, were you truly just dual cultivating?”
Zhang Yu nodded hastily. “Yes, Dao Monarch. After Bai Zhenzhen and I entered the Grotto-Heaven, we came here to cultivate together until your arrival…”
Seeing Zhang Yu’s earnest act, Bu Yingshu scoffed inwardly. Still lying? Conspiring with an outsider from the Heavenly Sword Sect to deceive me right to my face? This little beast has some nerve!
She took a deep breath, suppressing her rising anger. “How did you two meet?”
Zhang Yu knew he couldn’t hide their history. “A-Zhen and I are old classmates who climbed up from the first layer of Kunxu together. We hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so we decided to cultivate together…”
“Climbed up from the first layer together?” Hearing this, Bu Yingshu shot Bai Zhenzhen a look of disgust. She felt that her ‘little pet’ had been corrupted by this stray dog who had also clawed her way up from below.
Tired of Zhang Yu’s nonsense, Bu Yingshu cut him off. “Since you were dual cultivating, do you have any monitoring logs? Surveillance footage? Show me how you dual cultivated.”
Zhang Yu’s heart sank. What’s going on? Normally, a few words would be enough to brush this woman off.
Why is she so fixated on this now?
Could she have noticed something unusual?
But Zhang Yu couldn’t produce any footage. He could only force a bitter smile. “Dao Monarch, we didn’t have the surveillance active.”
“Still lying to me?!” Bu Yingshu glared at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, killing intent slowly rising within her. The Homicide Permit behind her flickered in and out of existence.
Bu Yingshu sneered. “Fine. Then dual cultivate for me right now, right here.”
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s internal alarms blared.
Zhang Yu thought, This is bad. She’s really figured something out!
Bai Zhenzhen whispered, “Yu Zi… this is completely different from the work environment you described. Have you been toyed with and repeatedly humiliated by Bu Yingshu all this time?”
Seeing their hesitation, Bu Yingshu said coldly, “What’s wrong? Can’t you do it? Zhang Yu, are you incapable of cultivating, or just unwilling?”
A wave of helplessness washed over Zhang Yu. I must not make an enemy of Bu Yingshu unless there’s no other choice.
He communicated with Bai Zhenzhen through their mental link: “A-Zhen, I’ll try to satisfy her demands.”
Bai Zhenzhen replied, “Tell me what to do.”
The next moment, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen pressed their palms together and began transferring magic power to each other.
Bu Yingshu said flatly, “Continue.”
Zhang Yu said, “Dao Monarch, this is how we dual cultivate.”
Bu Yingshu froze for a moment, her first thought being that Zhang Yu was mocking her.
This counts as dual cultivation? By that logic, the times I’ve stepped on him, touched his hand, or patted his head — would he claim that was dual cultivation with me too?
But then she remembered. Although no one in the sect dual cultivated this way anymore, ancient texts did define this method of mutually transferring magic power as a form of dual cultivation.
Recalling the Immortal Shuttle’s detection report, Bu Yingshu found herself believing them a little more.
Could it be that Zhang Yu wasn’t lying? Are they really just dual cultivating?