Chapter 860 A Kunxu Soul Cultivator Dream, Sect Examination Comes Up
In the Spirit Realm of the Former Days Graveyard.
Zhao Tianxing stood in front of the camera, feeling somewhat nervous.
Countless memories surged in his mind, and he couldn’t help but wonder how he had walked step by step to this point.
He recalled his years at Songyang High School, his experience of becoming a Soul Cultivator after death, his days studying at the Soul Cultivator Vocational College, his time living in complete darkness to save money, and finally, someone hiring him in that endless darkness…
“Chief Zhao! Chief Zhao! The filming has started.”
Subtitles appeared in front of Zhao Tianxing; it was a call from Mo Tianyi.
Zhao Tianxing suddenly snapped back to reality in his mind: “Right, I’m shooting a promotional video.”
“But am I really suited for promotion? Will a vocational college Soul Cultivator like me be disliked by the people in the sect layers?”
“What if it affects the company because of me?”
“Will the Minister be disappointed in me?”
Zhao Tianxing subconsciously looked at Zhang Yu’s avatar in his contacts, looking at the last message Zhang Yu sent: 👍
Seeing this, Zhao Tianxing suddenly felt his nervous and conflicted state of mind gradually relaxing.
Zhao Tianxing had never believed in himself.
Because he knew he had never been a particularly capable person.
Perhaps with his status from the Junior College to Bachelor’s Degree Program, he would be considered a highly educated talent on the First Layer of Kunxu.
But compared to the students of the Ten Great Universities, he was just an insignificant existence.
So Zhao Tianxing had never believed in himself, but he believed in Zhang Yu. He believed in Zhang Yu’s judgment, just like in the Civil Engineering Competition, the Ten Greats League, the University War… He believed Zhang Yu could lead them to victory time and time again.
“Since the minister thinks I can do it, then I definitely can.”
The powerful calculating power from the Calculation Pool flowed through his brain, and Zhao Tianxing, who had already stepped into the Golden Core Realm, quickly regained a clear-headed and highly efficient state.
In the past, within the dark space of the Vocational College, Zhang Yu’s large hand had torn through the darkness and hired him into the light.
And now, this pair of large hands had lifted him all the way up, placing him under the gaze of countless sect cultivators, wanting to tell them…
Zhao Tianxing looked at the camera, puffed out his chest, and said: “My name is Zhao Tianxing, from the First Layer of Kunxu, and as everyone can see… I am a Soul Cultivator who has completed the Junior College to Bachelor’s Degree Program.”
“When I was in the First Layer of Kunxu, still studying in high school, I lost my physical body and completely transformed into the state of a Soul Cultivator. I still remember myself back then, in order to save on expenses, I lived every day in a pitch-black Spirit Realm Space, not daring to generate even the slightest bit of imagery or light…”
“I know that many Soul Cultivators in the Former Days Graveyard right now are just about the same as I was back then…”
“Absolute nonsense!” Looking at Zhao Tianxing in the video, the rage in Lu Hengzhang’s heart grew even fiercer. “Not only can our sect’s Soul Cultivators work overtime for free every day, but they are also nourished by Yin Qi, and the air they take in through their breathing technique is sweeter than in the Lower Realm. How could they possibly live like Lower Realm Soul Cultivators?”
“To put the sect and the Lower Realm on the same level… this is a smear, a naked smear against the sect! A smear against the Myriad Laws Sect!”
“Report him! I want to report him!”
Originally, when Lu Hengzhang saw Zhao Tianxing, this Lower Realm College Soul Cultivator, doing an endorsement, he was already unusually furious. It felt worse to him than if he, a dignified Soul Transformation stage expert, had just publicly crapped his pants.
Now, seeing this college soul still smearing the sect, he wanted to press the report button so hard it would shoot sparks, feeling as nauseated as if he had seen a Lower Beast eating the crap he took for free.
On the other side, Zhang Yu looked at Zhao Tianxing in the video. He knew that Zhao Tianxing’s identity alone would inevitably cause strong dissatisfaction among many sect cultivators.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Especially cultivators from the Innate Dao Lineage faction. They will definitely be triggered seeing this, right?”
At the same time, the Sect Examination Clone in Zhang Yu’s mind had already shouted, “What are you doing! How can you let a Soul Cultivator compare the sect’s sacred ground to the gutters of the Lower Realm? Hurry up and delete this video.”
Fu Ji said, “It’s not meant for you to see, so why are you anxious? This is meant for the middle and lower layers of Soul Cultivators, to resonate with them and win their approval ratings.”
The Sect Examination Clone shouted, “Then do you not want the support of your fellow Myriad Laws Sect cultivators? Have you ever thought about what they will think when they see this?”
Fu Ji said carelessly, “I don’t care what the ordinary users think. We now have support from above. In the future, the Myriad Laws Sect will reduce the import quantity of Soul Cultivators from other companies, increase the coverage rate of sect-produced souls, and make our Myriad Laws Sect Soul Cultivator Industry great!”
“Next, we can put more effort into the appeal of Soul Cultivators.”
Fu Ji chuckled and said: “Say more things they like to hear, say more things that can resonate with them, say things they want to say but no one listens to… then that’s enough.”
Auspicious God shouted: “Did you understand what our Boss Fu Ji said? Blabbering nonsense here all day, how many sect assets have you bought? How much money have you earned for the sect? You are just a fake Sect Devotee, we are the true Sect Devotees by recruiting so many Soul Cultivators for the Myriad Laws Sect!”
Sect Examination Clone: “You! You… make a good point. The internal sect propaganda should be written exactly like this.”
On the other side, Zhao Tianxing in the video was still continuing to speak.
And while speaking, scenes of the middle and lower layer Soul Cultivator ecology of the Former Days Graveyard that he had come to know flashed through his mind one after another.
He originally thought that upon arriving within the sect layers, he would see the condition of Soul Cultivators being vastly different from the Lower Realm.
But it seemed that no matter which layer of Kunxu it was, there was no difference for the bottom-tier Soul Cultivators, and it might even be worse the higher the layer.
“What you consume is the polluted magic power discharged from factories, and what you live in are other people’s Yin Artifacts and Yang Artifacts, any place that can barely cram in a tiny bit of thought.”
“Every day, opening your eyes means work, and closing your eyes means returning to the Yin Artifact where dozens or even hundreds of people are housed, waiting for the next temporary job.”
“It is not that you do not want to think, but rather, inside that cramped Yin Artifact, just storing your memories is already pushing its capacity limit, leaving absolutely no extra computing power to run your thoughts.”
Zhao Tianxing sighed, “At work, you repeat the same unchanging, mechanized tasks day after day, or you become the washing boxes for the cultivators, using your own minds and wills to endure the scouring of massive amounts of data, just to filter data for the employers.”
“Outside of work, it is like you are stored in a box with no windows, no light, and no Bionic Eyes, where your only purpose of existence is to wait for the next job.”
“When you truly can no longer bear this kind of life and need to stir up Yin winds to wander the material world for a bit, or when you count in the dark, think aimlessly, and recall past memories, thus generating a massive amount of extra data, the company calls this data garbage data, and calls this state of ours Qi Deviation, saying we are getting closer and closer to Mental Meltdown.”
“But I know that those who produce a large amount of garbage data, those who go berserk at work, those who randomly delete work data… those Soul Cultivators who are said to have suffered Mental Meltdown, many of them were just driven crazy.”
Management Committee President, Rank 7 Xiao Yunhe quickly scanned the content of Zhao Tianxing’s words and sneered inwardly: “Bottom-level Soul Cultivators, they’re all poor ghosts with insufficient aptitude and unsteady dao hearts. Poor ghosts dying to this point is simply bringing it upon themselves, they deserve to be eliminated.”
Right at this moment, Xiao Yunhe’s subordinate sent a message: “President, since this spokesperson came out, the support rate for Zhang Yu and the others among the Soul Cultivators in the Former Days Graveyard has been rising continuously. It has already broken past 20%.”
However, Xiao Yunhe looked at the changes in the data with a face full of disdain: “Trying to rely on a Lower Beast, some rhetoric, and a little bit of resonance… to agitate those bottom-level Soul Cultivators? What’s the point of such superficial support rates drawn in like this?”
“This world is ultimately decided by the strong.”
“I want to see which of these trash dares to go against our prohibition.”
In the video, Zhao Tianxing was still reading from the script.
Zhao Tianxing didn’t know that Fu Ji and Auspicious God had participated in drafting this script; he only knew that it came from Zhang Yu.
Although Zhang Yu had also asked him for some information regarding Soul Cultivators during this period, seeing the actual content of the script still surprised and amazed him.
He hadn’t expected that with Zhang Yu’s current status, he could still so deeply understand the living conditions and inner thoughts of the bottom-tier Soul Cultivators.
Zhao Tianxing could only be heard continuing to speak according to the document in his mind: “All companies believe that a normally working Soul Cultivator is one who doesn’t generate extra data, doesn’t run extra computing power, only thinks about work, only uses their memory for work, and doesn’t communicate or make a fuss.”
“And all abnormal Soul Cultivators will be labeled with Mental Meltdown. They either have to spend their own money to enter a deep sleep, or be recycled, destroyed, or even converted into raw materials for producing Material Humans.”
“Because in the eyes of the companies, we are just tools, just cogs in a machine.”
“But we have our own thoughts, our own emotions. Looking at the bills and debts every day, how can we not be anxious? How can we not want to go crazy?”
“Every day is nothing but work and tasks. Time has blurred in our minds. We don’t know how long it has been, only that our lifespan is constantly decreasing, that we are getting closer and closer to a Mental Meltdown, and closer to the day we are destroyed and recycled. We work every day, but it feels like we are just waiting to die. We don’t know what we are working for.”
Zhao Tianxing sighed and continued, “Actually, we don’t want much. We just need a little bit more light in the place where we are stored, a little bit more clarity, and a little bit more computing power to let us think…
“Really, just a little bit… a little bit of something that makes us still feel human. Then we wouldn’t go mad so easily, and we wouldn’t suffer a Mental Meltdown so quickly.”
“The company won’t give it to us, because all those things represent extra costs. They are unnecessary expenses and a reduction in the company’s profits.”
“What else did you expect?”
Watching this scene, the Vice President of the Management Committee and Rank 6 Sect Staff, Xie Lanyin, only found it ridiculous.
“A Soul Cultivator still wants to be human?”
“Has Zhang Yu lost his mind? Running this kind of propaganda?”
Xie Lanyin glanced at the Soul Cultivator support rate and thought, “It’s reached 22%? But what is the use of a support rate gained through this kind of propaganda?”
“Could he really be planning to treat Soul Cultivators as humans? Wouldn’t that just increase his own costs?”
On the other side, Zhang Yu sighed, “Has the Soul Cultivator support rate really risen to 22%?”
“Fu Ji, Auspicious God, you guys did a good job editing this draft… It seems you know quite a lot about Soul Cultivators.”
“Isn’t that right?” Fu Ji said with a smug look. “Let me tell you, poor people’s money is hard to earn, but it’s very easy to swindle. As the poorest of the poor, Soul Cultivators must absolutely be deceived. Which Evil God hasn’t scammed money out of a Soul Cultivator?”
“These losers in the competition of the immortal path, these cheap goods produced on an assembly line, are full of resentment towards Kunxu, yet their heads are filled with impractical delusions. Just say a little bit of what they like to hear, and it will trigger their resonance!”
The Auspicious God said from the side, “Well said, Boss Fu Ji! You spoke exactly what was on my mind!”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Evil Gods love to deceive Soul Cultivators? Could this… be specially arranged by the Reincarnation Immortal Emperor?”
He suddenly thought about how behind the Evil Gods was the Reincarnation Immortal Emperor, and behind the Soul Cultivators was the Soul Cultivator Dao Lineage. If the Evil Gods were made to deceive Soul Cultivators, could it be a method used by the Reincarnation Immortal Emperor to accelerate the mortality rate of Soul Cultivators?
In the video, Zhao Tianxing continued, “In the eyes of the company, we are just thinking parts. The entire system requires the lowest cost and the highest efficiency to maintain these parts.”
“In this system, we are no longer human beings, but programs, instructions, and raw materials.”
“No one cares about the mood of an instruction or a pile of raw materials, as long as they can function normally.”
“As for those that cannot function normally… they are naturally treated as bugs in the program, and after being eliminated one by one, they either fall asleep, are destroyed, or are recycled…”
“Therefore, cultivators rarely see Soul Cultivators with Mental Meltdowns, because the company simply does not allow crazed Soul Cultivators to appear in front of customers.”
“Hardly anyone thinks about it… these dead people were also once living people who could be afraid, bored, terrified, and panicked.”
“No one takes it seriously. The company only calls our breakdowns Mental Meltdown, calls it Qi Deviation, as if it is normal for a part to wear out after being used for a long time.”
“But it’s different now…” Zhao Tianxing said. “Because the brand new Soul Cultivator Company created by Minister Zhang is about to open.”
“Many people like to say that useless mud can’t be plastered onto a wall, but I want them to look at me, to look at me, a First Layer College Soul Cultivator.”
“I just want to tell everyone that as long as you support them hard enough, even the useless mud from the First Layer can be plastered onto the wall of the Eleventh Layer!”
“From a Soul Cultivator High School in the First Layer, to a Soul Cultivator Vocational College in the Second Layer, and then successfully employed by Minister Zhang, I successively participated in the University War and successfully obtained a Foundation Establishment Certificate.”
“After entering the sect, thanks to Minister Zhang’s appreciation, I achieved the Golden Core and have hope of reaching Spirit Transformation in the future.”
“And now… the company that understands Soul Cultivators the best and knows how to support them the most… a joint venture between the Myriad Laws Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect, hosted by Minister Zhang, is about to open. Please stay tuned.”
The Rank 7 Sect Staff of the Heavenly Demon Sect, Su Lengyou of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, scanned through Zhao Tianxing’s speech in an instant.
She frowned slightly and glanced at the Soul Cultivator support rate in the Former Days Graveyard.
“24% already? It’s still rising. At this rate, it’ll probably reach 30% eventually, right?”
Although the Soul Cultivator support rate was rising, Su Lengyou was not satisfied with the content of the promotional video.
“Soul Cultivators aren’t smoothly operating parts? Do they really want to be human?”
“Emotions? Memories? Going crazy? Doesn’t taking care of all these things require extra costs?”
Su Lingyou thought to herself, “It should just be to trick the Soul Cultivators of the Former Days Graveyard, tricking as many as possible, right?”
“Hahaha, once the company opens, we’ll trick this bunch of Soul Cultivators into coming in and fleece them!”
Fu Ji chuckled, “In the beginning, we’ll give them free Dharma Realm services, free memory modification, and memory storage. The slogan will be better off dead than alive, turn over a new leaf! Let Zhao Tianxing take the lead in using it!”
On the other side, the Sect Examination Clone also nodded repeatedly, “By that time, only by using the Dharma Realm services will they be more competitive, and those who don’t use the Dharma Realm services won’t be able to find jobs. Once they can’t leave the Dharma Realm, we’ll start charging them. It will be cheap at first, and then we’ll gradually raise the price, claiming that the Dharma Realm traffic has surged, costs have increased, and we have to raise prices.”
“Not bad, not bad! We can also provide more Dharma Realm services.” Fu Ji agreed, “When they can’t afford it, we’ll let them take out loans! Let them mortgage things! Finally, in order to continue working to make money, we’ll have them give up every trace of their thoughts, every second of their time…”
The Sect Examination Clone said, “Every inch of lifespan, every portion of soul matter…”
Fu Ji and the Sect Examination Clone laughed together, “All of it will be harvested by us!”
Auspicious God: “Great!”
Just as the Evil God and Sect Examination Clone were full of expectations for the future of the Soul Cultivator Company, Immortal Slayer suddenly said coldly: “Zhang Yu, if after we arrive and the new Soul Cultivator Platform is launched, everything just becomes more exploitative, then what is the point?”
Fu Ji shouted: “What nonsense are you spouting again? Making more money has no meaning?”
Sect Examination Clone said: “Helping the Immortal Emperor expand the Dharma Realm Dao Lineage, how could that be meaningless?”
Immortal Slayer ignored the two of them and continued speaking to Zhang Yu: “This shouldn’t be the path we take. Just like in the promotional slogan, let’s truly support Soul Cultivators.”
“This Former Days Graveyard incident can also be an opportunity for us to try to change Kunxu and change the Soul Cultivator ecosystem.”
Desolate Ox said lightly: “If this time, we truly don’t just make money and promote the Dao Lineage, but also manage to change the ecosystem, it will show that we have the potential to create a new Dao Lineage in the future.”
“Not only will this make the Reformist Faction support us more, perhaps… it could also give the blank Law Scroll in our hands a higher range of tolerance in the eyes of the Immortal Emperor.”
Immortal Slayer said, “That’s right. Although the Immortal Emperor gave us a blank Law Scroll, the so-called blankness does not mean an unlimited degree of freedom. This limit still exists within the Immortal Emperor’s heart.”
“If we merely help the Immortal Emperor make money and promote the Dao Lineage, then in the Immortal Emperor’s judgment, we are just useful subjects, talents to uphold the Dao Lineage in the future.”
“We must offer new possibilities, demonstrating our ability to take charge of the overall situation and the boldness to change the industry’s ecology. Only such a person is a Heavenly Chosen capable of creating a new Dao Lineage, and only then will there be a chance in the future… to become an immortal talent on the level of the Dharma Realm Dao Lineage.”
Hearing these two speak, Fu Ji said angrily, “Zhang Yu, don’t listen to them. What new solution? It’s too risky. We just need to help the Immortal Emperor make more money, promote the Dao Lineage more, and slowly climb our way up, and that will be enough…”
Seeing that Zhang Yu didn’t answer her, Fu Ji said anxiously, “Zhang Yu, you aren’t actually listening to them, are you? Don’t do it. They are just deceiving you for their own twisted goals. Only I, Fu Ji, truly hope that you can safely climb to the Apex of the Immortal Dao.”
Zhang Yu did not answer, but instead continued to complete his cultivation work for the day, conveniently moving the Spirit Transformation Pool into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
Ever since Zhang Yu broke through to the Spirit Transformation Realm, he would soak his Primordial Spirit in the Spirit Transformation Pool every day.
This was because under the enhancement of the Chain Formation Diagram [Spirit Transformation Dao Body], as long as Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit continuously soaked in the Spirit Transformation Pool, he could step by step complete the ten Divine Light Transformations, allowing his Primordial Spirit to reach its peak state.
In the beginning, each transformation would require one year of time.
However, with the strengthening of the Infinite Chain Formation Diagram, as Zhang Yu persistently practiced his cultivation arts daily to increase the layers of his Spirit Transformation Dao Body diagram, he could shorten the time required to soak in the Spirit Transformation Pool. For example, now that Zhang Yu’s Spirit Transformation Dao Body had reached over twenty layers, the original one year needed to soak in the Spirit Transformation Pool had now been reduced to half a year.
Moreover, Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit had also reached the second Divine Light Transformation. The strength of his Primordial Spirit, his flying speed, and his efficiency at executing techniques, all of it had greatly improved.
Taking advantage of this successful transformation and no longer needing to worry about the process being interrupted, Zhang Yu took the opportunity to place the Spirit Transformation Pool into his Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
“The Spirit Transformation Dao Body still needs to continue improving.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Although I should be able to get promoted next year, when that time comes, I am afraid my Primordial Spirit will still not have stepped into its peak state…”
At this moment, Zhang Yu also felt somewhat emotional in his heart. For most Sect Staff, their rank was the greatest hurdle bottlenecking their cultivation realm.
But for him right now, the cultivation time was too short, so his attributes became the key holding back his breakthrough.
“However, even without other assistance, just relying on the existing conditions to let me continue improving my Spirit Transformation Dao Body, I will be able to raise my Primordial Spirit to ten transformations in at most two or three years, breaking through to Void Refinement at my peak state and start establishing a Law Edict…”
In the following time, the public opinion war between Zhang Yu and Xiao Yunhe’s sides continued.
The two sides went back and forth, and the support rate for Zhang Yu’s Soul Cultivators fluctuated, ultimately hovering around 30%.
As a result, the vast majority of people in the Former Days Graveyard knew about the existence of the joint venture company, but most did not have a positive impression of Zhang Yu’s side.
But during the technical preparation and business testing period, maintaining this level of attention and popularity was already enough for Zhang Yu.
At the same time, the Lower Realm’s Sect Examination also finally ended.
With the conclusion of the final interviews, the admission lists of the Ten Great Sects were directly published.
And among them, the names from the Netherworld Assets Department were particularly dazzling.
Divine Monarch Magnetic Pole, Divine Monarch Greenwood, Shi Huaiyu, Feng Tingting, Yan Qianji.
Seeing the Netherworld Assets Department recruit five people in one go, countless Lower Realm Cultivators were shocked at this moment.
“As expected of Divine Monarch Blazing Light’s department! To actually recruit five people up at once!”
“With the additional five Outsourced Cultivators, wouldn’t that actually be ten people?”
“Sure enough, True Monarch Blazing Light is the one in the sect most willing to recruit from below! I will also apply for the Netherworld Assets Department next year.”
On the other side in the Overtime Institute, the former True Monarch Heaven Devourer, now Heaven-Compliant Monkey, said in disbelief, “Five people? Recruiting as many as five people in one go?”
“If five are recruited every year… with my talent, if I could take the Sect Examination, by taking it for a few more years… I would eventually be able to pass.”
Thinking about how he had missed the opportunity for the Sect Examination just like that, Heaven-Compliant Monkey only felt his heart bleeding.
Beside him, True Monarch Junior College Li Qiuxian muttered, “At a glance, they are all Zhang Yu’s subordinates, this is a rigged scheme. Can Zhang Yu already pull off shady deals in the Sect Examination?”
On the other side, as a Sect Staff, Yun Zhiguang was also shaken upon seeing this scene: “Recruiting five in one year? Then in 10 years, wouldn’t they recruit 50? In 100 years, 500?”
“Just how many Lower Realm Cultivators do they plan to bring up?”
Just thinking about it made Yun Zhiguang feel uncomfortable all over.
As the days passed, by the time Magnetic Pole, Old Gao, and the others entered the sect, completed their training, and returned to the Former Days Graveyard, it was already December.
As soon as they entered, they saw Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing appearing in various advertisements in the Former Days Graveyard.
Looking at the content of the advertisements, the crowd realized that today seemed to be the official opening day of the joint venture company.