Chapter 840: Dao Monarch Bu, I Can’t Hold On Much Longer!
Inside the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
A silvery-white sphere, resembling a skull, floated silently in mid-air.
Looking at the now-quiescent World-Forging Furnace before him, Zhang Yu revealed a faint smile.
“Finally, it’s done.”
Gazing at the first Void Refinement-level corpse component he had successfully subdued, Zhang Yu extended a hand and forcefully extracted the Grotto-Heaven force from within.
Faced with Zhang Yu’s extraction, the dormant World-Forging Furnace was utterly powerless to resist. A surging torrent of Grotto-Heaven force instantly flooded into Zhang Yu’s body, causing the entire Immortal Grotto-Heaven to tremble once more.
With each successive tremor, the Immortal Grotto-Heaven seemed to grow again. Its spatial volume expanded abruptly, its length, width, and height gradually surpassing eleven kilometers.
Feeling the Immortal Grotto-Heaven’s renewed growth, Zhang Yu nodded in satisfaction. “Subduing this Void Refinement corpse component truly yields far more Grotto-Heaven force than subduing ten Spirit Transformation corpse components.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu felt a strange, subtle connection form between himself and the World-Forging Furnace. The furnace was no longer berserk; it now completely obeyed his commands.
“Then… activate.”
“Ignite.”
In that instant, tiny sparks flickered to life within the core of the World-Forging Furnace.
Simultaneously, the entire Immortal Grotto-Heaven’s magic power surged through countless Magic Power Circuits, pouring into the World-Forging Furnace.
Even Zhang Yu himself slammed his palm forward, infusing his own magic power into it.
Although the World-Forging Furnace, once fully operational, possessed an extremely high magic power refinement efficiency, enough to power all the devices within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven with plenty to spare, the initial startup and ignition still required a massive amount of magic power.
As waves of magic power surged in, wisps of flame gradually erupted from the World-Forging Furnace, like a sun rising above the horizon.
As the World-Forging Furnace slowly came to life, a torrent of magic power flowed back through the Magic Power Circuits, feeding every device and corpse component within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven. It was like a true sun, illuminating all creation.
Boom!
The corpse component production line roared to life. The numerous Berserk Corpse Components that had just participated in the battle let out savage howls. Infused with the surging magic power, their auras swelled dramatically as they all entered full-power mode.
Meanwhile, the Calculation Pool — the component Zhang Yu was most focused on — emitted a low hum. Its available performance began to climb steadily, jumping from 10% to 20%… 30%…
Ultimately, under the increasingly torrential magic power output of the World-Forging Furnace, the Calculation Pool’s available performance shot straight to 100%.
The surge in the Calculation Pool’s performance was most directly felt by Zhang Yu. He felt his mind suddenly lighten, his thoughts accelerating by more than a hundred times.
In that instant, the entire world seemed to slow down before him.
Clearly, with the Calculation Pool’s enhancement, Zhang Yu’s efficiency in learning, work, and combat would skyrocket.
Besides Zhang Yu, the ones who felt the change most keenly were the Soul Cultivators like Mo Tianyi, Hu Yuntao, and Che Yufei.
Mo Tianyi exclaimed in delight, “An endless stream of computational power is pouring out!”
Hu Yuntao declared with excitement, “In this environment, if I can obtain the necessary credentials, breaking through to the Golden Core Realm won’t be a problem!”
The Ying Family Soul Cultivators added, “If we can truly break through, it will also solve the problem of several of our family members nearing the end of their lifespans.”
Meanwhile, under Zhang Yu’s control, the torrents of magic power flames erupting from the World-Forging Furnace were tightly bound by formations, contained within a ten-meter radius around the furnace.
The World-Forging Furnace was now operating normally. Its magic power was being channeled into various devices, unlike its previous berserk state where the unusable magic power had accumulated into endless Supreme Yang Qi, causing increasing destruction to the surroundings despite the formations’ constraints.
However, as the furnace ran, Zhang Yu could feel the spiritual energy within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven rapidly depleting.
“The rate of magic power refinement has increased, but the spiritual energy is running low again.”
“I need to produce more Qi Absorption Machines to draw spiritual energy into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven from the outside.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Fortunately, with the World-Forging Furnace running, both of the Qi Absorption Machine production lines I collected can operate at full capacity. Combined with the materials Teacher Gao salvaged, I should be able to manufacture a large number of machines and alleviate the spiritual energy shortage in the Grotto-Heaven.”
As his thoughts raced, Zhang Yu turned his attention to the Soul Cultivators, who were now at their peak state.
“Mo Tianyi, Che Yufei, Hu Yuntao, help me write a report. I need to send it to the Management Committee President.”
“The report should detail Vice President Xie Lanyin’s sudden attack, which caused the Development Zone’s Spirit Realm to be severed…”
Zhang Yu mused, “Compared to having Celestial Inquiry Star write all these documents, having my trusted Soul Cultivators handle it… feels much more reassuring.”
Zhang Yu knew that although he had successfully subdued the Void Refinement Corpse Components, the situation was far from over.
After all, the entire labyrinth was still severed from the Spirit Realm.
The entire Development Zone was likely in chaos because of this.
On the battlefield of the Laboratory District.
Zhang Yu’s figure reappeared. He raised a finger, and wisps of Supreme Yang Qi suddenly erupted from his fingertip, bursting with dazzling light.
This was Zhang Yu using the power of Grotto-Heaven Manifestation to directly release a trace of Supreme Yang Qi from the fiercely burning World-Forging Furnace.
Feeling the astonishing heat contained within this trace of Supreme Yang Qi, Zhang Yu smiled with satisfaction before retracting it back into the furnace.
Having access to Void Refinement-level Supreme Yang Qi gave Zhang Yu, who was currently at the Spirit Transformation Realm, a powerful ability that surpassed his own cultivation realm.
The surrounding Spirit Transformation Cultivators, including Tu Mu, watched Zhang Yu emerge from his Grotto-Heaven again. Their hearts trembled as they saw the fleeting flash of Supreme Yang Qi at his fingertip.
After the series of intense battles, everyone had realized that Zhang Yu seemed capable of controlling the Berserk Corpse Components in combat.
But they had never imagined that Zhang Yu could even control the World-Forging Furnace at Void Refinement power.
“Sigh, an Immortal’s legacy…” Tu Mu thought to himself. “Truly, the methods of Immortals are beyond our comprehension.”
If Zhang Yu’s initial feat of withstanding the World-Forging Furnace had already astonished everyone, then his subsequent act of blocking Xie Lanyin’s attack had earned him their immense admiration and trust.
Now, as Zhang Yu demonstrated his ability to control the Void Refinement Corpse Component, his prestige among the Spirit Transformation Cultivators skyrocketed instantly.
As Zhang Yu’s strength and abilities grew, the opinions of some began to quietly shift.
Previously, when Zhang Yu, as their leader, fought on the front lines, many Spirit Transformation Cultivators had been baffled, even suspecting that the World-Forging Furnace’s influence had driven him mad.
But now, their perspectives had completely changed.
“Vice President Zhang is so powerful, he even blocked Vice President Xie Lanyin’s attack. How could he possibly be affected by mere corpse components?”
“He must be doing this because he wants to. We’re just not powerful enough to grasp his intentions. He must have some deeper purpose. It’s best if we just do as he says.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu waved his right hand. Using the power of Grotto-Heaven Manifestation, he had already led everyone into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven and was heading toward the Grotto-Heaven Bridges.
Within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, each Grotto-Heaven Bridge connected to different parts of the labyrinth, as well as its entrance.
By using the Immortal Grotto-Heaven as a transit point, Zhang Yu could lead them out of the labyrinth at the fastest possible speed, arriving directly at the entrance.
Once there, Zhang Yu and the others would be able to reconnect to the Spirit Realm.
“After you get out,” Zhang Yu instructed, “release the videos you just recorded: the one of my battle with Vice President Xie Lanyin, the one showing her losing control of her power and severing the Spirit Realm connection, and the one of me actively resisting her attack to protect the sect’s assets… Post them all.”
Hearing this, Tu Mu asked, “Leader, under what name should we release them? Is there anything specific we should say?”
“Post it however you can to make it go viral,” Zhang Yu said calmly. “I only have one requirement.”
“I want this incident to blow up as much as possible.”
And so, the group crossed the Grotto-Heaven Bridge, returned to the labyrinth’s entrance, and emerged outside.
Zhang Yu’s Spirit Transformation Cultivators immediately reconnected to the Spirit Realm, then began editing the videos and posting them online.
This was nothing new to them. After all, in the Kunxu Sects, performance often mattered less than how well you filmed, wrote, and spoke about it.
These veteran Spirit Transformation Cultivators were no strangers to creating promotional videos and orchestrating media hype. Each had their own channels and methods.
After assigning their tasks, Zhang Yu contacted Yu Xinghan.
Zhang Yu: “Xinghan, help me contact Manager Lin. I need to discuss something with him in person.”
Zhang Yu glanced at the image that appeared before him: a collection of photos Teacher Gao had taken of various high-end equipment during his recent visits to the Laboratory District.
Much of this high-end equipment was of little use to Zhang Yu.
But he was confident that the Netherworld Palace’s Sect Enterprises would be interested in the White Bone Cult’s equipment, and the White Bone Cult’s Sect Enterprises would surely be curious about the Heavenly Demon Cult’s laboratories.
Zhang Yu’s request was simple: he just wanted these enterprises to speak a few words of justice in the coming days.
Watching this unfold, Fu Ji chuckled. “Xie Lanyin, in charge of investment recruitment, tried to pressure us with these enterprises last time. She doesn’t realize that her greatest strength — recruitment — can also be her greatest weakness, her Achilles’ heel.”
Immortal Slayer sighed. “Ever since our confrontation with Xie Lanyin at the last meeting, we’ve been looking for a card to play against her. I never expected her to make a move herself, allowing us to play our hand so quickly.”
As Zhang Yu busied himself contacting the heads of various Sect Enterprises, Bai Zhenzhen, who had been hiding in the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, finally emerged.
Seeing Zhang Yu covered in wounds, almost unrecognizable, she couldn’t help but worry.
Although Bai Zhenzhen had seen Zhang Yu severely injured time and again since the First Layer, this was undoubtedly the worst she had ever seen him.
In her perception, his life aura was almost nonexistent, and his wounds showed no signs of regeneration or self-healing.
Bai Zhenzhen: “Yu Zi, your injuries…”
“It’s nothing, A-Zhen,” Zhang Yu said with a faint smile. “I just want… these wounds not to heal too quickly.”
At this moment, Zhang Yu was forcefully suppressing the self-healing power within his body, preventing any recovery or mending of his injuries.
“A-Zhen, I’ll return the Spirit Root to you first. Bu Yingshu will probably be here soon…”
Though Zhang Yu didn’t finish his sentence, Bai Zhenzhen understood his meaning.
She briefly returned to the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, retracting the Spirit Root from Zhang Yu’s body. “I’ll leave now,” Bai Zhenzhen said. “You… be careful.”
As Zhang Yu exited the Spirit Root’s Fusion State, the potent self-healing power within him plummeted.
A wave of weakness washed over him, bringing a cascade of discomfort.
He couldn’t help but think to himself, “The power boost from the Feather True Spirit Root’s Fusion State… is immense. After fusing, I could probably take on ten of my pre-fusion selves.”
Zhang Yu watched Bai Zhenzhen’s retreating figure and thought, “If A-Zhen entered the Fusion State, her strength would likely skyrocket. Not only would she be nearly unrivaled among her peers, but she could even hold her own against a Void Refinement cultivator for a while. Especially since she’s in a security-related department — being fast and durable is a huge advantage in sect competitions.”
“But she doesn’t have an Immortal Legacy… I need to find a way to create a pretext for her too…”
The thought flashed through his mind, but Zhang Yu knew it wasn’t the priority right now. He pushed it aside to focus on the task at hand.
He stepped outside the Immortal Grotto-Heaven again and immediately contacted Bu Yingshu, sending his projection to her.
“Dao… Dao Monarch Bu, I… I can’t hold on much longer!”
Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen had only just left when she saw a streak of light tear across the sky, triggering a series of Spirit Realm alerts and panic.
She knew it was Bu Yingshu, piloting her Immortal Shuttle, rushing to Zhang Yu’s location.
Deep within the Spirit Realm, Xie Lanyin’s true consciousness trembled slightly. She sensed that her connection to the labyrinth had been severed.
“Hmm? Is there a problem with the Spirit Realm signal?”
At first, Xie Lanyin thought the issue might be on her end. She quickly scanned her own status and found that she could connect to every other part of the Spirit Realm except the labyrinth.
Instantly, she understood: the problem was with the labyrinth itself.
“The Spirit Realm connection to the labyrinth is down again?”
Recalling the situation just before she lost contact, she thought, “Everything should be fine.”
Xie Lanyin was extremely confident. As a Void Refinement Cultivator, she knew that no one on site could have withstood that single finger strike.
“The World-Forging Furnace must have been completely destroyed by my attack.”
As a Void Refinement Realm Cultivator, Xie Lanyin was precise in her actions.
“That strike would have utterly shattered the World-Forging Furnace’s main structure. It won’t be restartable without several major repairs.”
“But it wouldn’t have harmed anyone present.”
With this thought, Xie Lanyin felt reassured that she hadn’t made any mistakes.
At the same time, she sighed inwardly. “This means Zhang Yu’s attempt to subdue his first Void Refinement Corpse Component has failed. He’ll have to start over and lead his team to subdue the next one.”
“He won’t be able to control the World-Forging Furnace to help him subdue other corpse components now.”
“Thankfully, I discovered he could control various Berserk Corpse Components in battle. That’s why I seized the opportunity to strike directly and completely disrupt his plans.”
“Otherwise, if he could control one Void Refinement Corpse Component after another, he might have actually completed the mission within twenty days.”
Although Xie Lanyin wasn’t certain if Zhang Yu could fully control Void Refinement-level corpse components, the Immortal Legacy behind him made it a risk she couldn’t ignore. This was the prudence of a veteran Sect Staff member.
However, the sudden disconnection from the Spirit Realm felt too coincidental. A flicker of unease and suspicion ignited in her heart.
As she pondered, Xie Lanyin watched the various messages flooding the Spirit Realm. Soon, she noticed more and more people discussing the labyrinth’s Spirit Realm disconnection.
This included the teams previously responsible for clearing the Office District.
It also included the construction crews that had entered in recent days to begin rebuilding the cleared Office District.
Members of these teams were now leaving the labyrinth’s Office District, complaining about the Spirit Realm outage.
After all, in this era, nearly all magical artifacts, Bionics, and other equipment within Kunxu had the function of connecting to the Spirit Realm. Only with a Spirit Realm connection could Soul Cultivators and Cultivators perform various remote operations and access corporate remote services.
The Spirit Realm disconnection directly forced the vast majority of people in the labyrinth’s Office District to halt their work.
Of course, some teams and equipment in Kunxu could operate without a Spirit Realm connection.
But the teams assigned to the Development Zone’s construction were clearly unprepared for this. Before they arrived, they had confirmed that the Development Zone was once again covered by the Spirit Realm and that spiritual energy was functioning normally. All their preparations were based on having spiritual energy available.
Temporarily replacing all their magical artifacts, Bionics, and other equipment would require massive personnel and resource mobilization — which meant spending Immortal Coins and time.
The widespread work stoppage led one company after another to contact Xie Lanyin, the Vice President in charge of investment promotion.
Xie Lanyin could only appease them one by one while immediately sending a message to Zhang Yu, copying the President and other Vice Presidents.
She intended to demand an explanation from Zhang Yu. As the person responsible for the Development Zone’s infrastructure and the one who had restored the Spirit Realm connection, why had he failed to maintain it?
But just moments after Xie Lanyin sent her inquiry, she noticed a series of news articles about her suddenly going viral in the Spirit Realm.
“Spirit Transformation Defies Void Refinement! Individual Anomaly or Flaw in Our Education and Training Systems?”
“Cross-Realm Combat! How a Spirit Transformation Cultivator Repelled a Void Refinement Cultivator with a Single Move!”
Zhang Yu had instructed the Spirit Transformation Cultivators to publicize the video, and they had each used their unique skills to leak the story in various ways.
While some outlets reported the incident straightforwardly, headlines about a lower realm defying a higher one were far more eye-catching and spread like wildfire.
After all, in Kunxu, especially within the Ten Great Sects, it was considered nearly impossible for a lower-level cultivator to defeat a higher-level one.
When the gap was between the Spirit Transformation and Void Refinement realms, the difference was as vast as an insurmountable chasm.
It had been countless years since the sects had witnessed such an event.
In the minds of many cultivators, this kind of upset was a relic of ancient times, when Immortal Dao technology was primitive, ancient cultivators’ learning was incomplete, and their understanding of the world and the Immortal Dao was shallow.
“A Void Refinement Cultivator was actually defeated by a lower-level one in this day and age? I have to see which Void Refinement Cultivator is this pathetic.”
Beneath these increasingly sensational headlines was the very image of Xie Lanyin pointing her finger, only to have Zhang Yu forcefully block the attack.
Of course, the video alone couldn’t convey the full context: that Xie Lanyin had already been disconnected from the network, or that Zhang Yu had sacrificed over a dozen clones within his Immortal Grotto-Heaven to exhaust the power of that single finger strike.
Instead, the video gave the impression that Zhang Yu had shattered Xie Lanyin’s attack with a single punch.
Under this kind of publicity, some might think Zhang Yu was incredibly powerful, but many more would question Xie Lanyin’s strength and performance.
“How is this possible? How could this lower beast block my finger strike?”
Seeing this, Xie Lanyin was first shocked, then enraged. “Absurd! Defying Void Refinement? This is blatant slander and defamation!”
In modern Kunxu, strength wasn’t just a measure of ability; it was directly tied to a cultivator’s assets.
A major scandal like a Spirit Transformation Cultivator defying a Void Refinement Cultivator would not only undermine her authority on the Management Committee but also directly impact the stock price of Xie Lanyin’s company.
After all, if your company’s Void Refinement Cultivator can be defeated by a Spirit Transformation Cultivator, how can your products be considered reliable?
Even Xie Lanyin’s personal assets, including the mine formed from her own body, would be affected.
After all, if a certain Void Refinement Cultivator can’t even handle a Spirit Transformation Cultivator, how can the materials they produce be trusted?
Upon seeing these scandals erupt, Xie Lanyin’s first instinct was to cover them up.
She immediately mobilized her Soul Cultivator Trolling Army, sending them to flood forums with counter-arguments, manipulate public opinion, and divert attention. Simultaneously, she pushed other trending topics to bury her own scandal and issued numerous warning letters, threatening lower-realm cultivators to stop spreading rumors.
In an instant, Xie Lanyin’s funds drained away like water.
The news of a Void Refinement Cultivator being defied was simply too eye-catching and sensational. Xie Lanyin found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t suppress it.
As the news went viral, statements from the many Spirit Transformation Cultivators present at the scene began circulating throughout the Spirit Realm, drawing even more cultivators to investigate the battle’s inner details.
On Tu Mu’s social platform, a post read: “The Spirit Realm of the Former Days Graveyard labyrinth had only recently been repaired and was still unstable. For reasons unknown, Vice President Xie Lanyin suddenly attacked, using the Spirit Realm as a bridge to remotely unleash her Primordial Spirit power, causing the labyrinth’s Spirit Realm connection to sever…”
As the news went viral, similar claims spread widely, and Xie Lanyin immediately sensed the impending crisis.
“So… they want to pin the blame for severing the Spirit Realm connection on me?”
Xie Lanyin sneered inwardly and immediately planned to contact the major investment companies to pressure Zhang Yu together.
But she quickly discovered that their representatives were either offline, unresponsive, or claimed to be busy.
At that moment, Xie Lanyin, a veteran of sect politics, felt an even more dangerous signal — like an incredibly sharp divine blade in the void, slowly descending toward her neck.
She certainly wouldn’t sit idly by and await her fate. She immediately tried to contact the other Vice Presidents and the President of the Management Committee.
But just then, a crimson warning flashed throughout her Spirit Realm Grotto-Heaven.
The next moment, a figure tore through layers of Spirit Realm barriers and landed before her.
“You…” Xie Lanyin stared at Bu Yingshu, momentarily stunned. “Dao Monarch Bu, what are you doing?”
Bu Yingshu snorted coldly. “You dare harm my person? And you have the nerve to ask me that?”
The thought of Zhang Yu — the one who could help her break through her talent bottleneck — nearly being killed sent Bu Yingshu into a rage. It was as if her beloved internet celebrity cat, with millions of followers, had been beaten half to death. Killing intent radiated from her.
As Innate Permits materialized one after another in the Spirit Realm, Xie Lanyin quickly warned, “I did not attack Zhang Yu. And Dao Monarch Bu! I am a Management Committee Vice President, a Rank 6 Sect Staff…”
Bu Yingshu ignored her, gripping an Innate Homicide Permit as she threw a punch at Xie Lanyin.
“Rank 6 Sect Staff, is it? I’ll use all the quotas on this permit for you.”
“Is that enough?”
Xie Lanyin replied coolly, “Bu Yingshu, don’t think I’m afraid of you just because you’re from the Myriad Laws Immortal Clan. The Myriad Laws Clan has no authority over the White Bone Cult.”
Just as they were about to clash, another consciousness descended — Xiao Yunhe, the President of the Management Committee, a Rank 7 Tribulation Transcendence Cultivator.
He raised a hand between them, sighing as he sent a message to Xie Lanyin: “Why did you attack Zhang Yu? And leave him in such a state? No matter what, he’s still a Vice President of the Management Committee.”
Xie Lanyin replied, “I didn’t attack Zhang Yu!”