Chapter 870 Zhang Yu’s Disinterest, Profound Impact, Feather Book Upgrade
When Dugu Ming first saw Zhang Yu and brought him the reward bestowed by the Myriad Laws Immortal Emperor… that blank Law Scroll which made even him feel a trace of jealousy, he understood that Zhang Yu was an immortal talent highly regarded by the Immortal Emperor.
And during their subsequent interactions, listening to the other party’s attitude of expressing loyalty, as well as his delusional attempt to add the Immortal Emperor as a friend, all made Dugu Ming confirm one point… the other party was likely the same type of person as him.
This caused a competitive mindset to rise in Dugu Ming’s heart, even if the other party was currently merely at the Spirit Transformation stage.
At this moment, Dugu Ming was like an old cat watching a new cat being pet and cuddled by their master every day. Thus, he wanted to find out if this new cat was shitting and pissing on the bed, so he could let the master know that the new cat was nowhere near as good as the old cat.
Therefore, carrying an attitude of being determined to win, he secretly descended upon the Former Days Graveyard. The first thing he checked was Zhang Yu, as well as the salary changes of the people around Zhang Yu.
Dugu Ming’s gaze shifted, and rows of salary data already surfaced in front of him.
“No change… no change… no change…”
With a quick scan, Dugu Ming confirmed that there was no abnormal salary increase for Zhang Yu and Zhang Yu’s subordinates.
“Oh?”
A hint of slight surprise flashed in Dugu Ming’s heart: “Not a single bit of increase? These poor ghosts who climbed up from the Lower Realm, after suffering from salary suppression for so long, can actually hold back from recklessly raising their salaries?”
In fact, Dugu Ming felt that even if Zhang Yu gave himself a 3% or 5% raise, the Immortal Emperor probably wouldn’t say anything.
But under such circumstances, Zhang Yu didn’t raise his own or his subordinates’ salaries even a little bit, which made Dugu Ming think more highly of him.
“This kid… has grand ambitions. Only then could he resist the urge to raise his salary even a bit.”
Regarding this phenomenon, Dugu Ming, as the Vice Hall Master of the Heavenly Surveillance Hall, had seen too much. Many high-level Sect Staff who looked completely clean on the surface often did the biggest things in private.
At the same time, right when Dugu Ming was investigating the salary data, he also observed a special phenomenon.
“Salary transparency?”
Looking at the screenshot showing the salary data and salary structure displayed above Zhang Yu’s head, Dugu Ming checked the situation of the others.
He discovered that numerous Sect Staff led by Zhang Yu, and even outsourced cultivators and soul cultivators, had all publicly displayed their salary situations like this, even prompting many people from the Netherworld Assets Department and the Soul Cultivator Company to follow suit.
“This Zhang Yu is indeed very good at publicity.”
“This move… the Immortal Emperor should like it very much.”
Dugu Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly, feeling an even greater sense of competition from Zhang Yu.
Then Dugu Ming continued to look through the salary lists. With his powerful cultivation at the Ascension Realm and his authority as the Vice Hall Master of the Heavenly Surveillance Hall, he naturally finished reviewing the various data very quickly.
“Other than the frontline soul cultivators, there actually isn’t a single person who got a salary increase?”
Seeing this result, Dugu Ming was surprised.
“Good method! It seems this Zhang Yu is a master at hiding money.”
Dugu Ming naturally would not believe that Zhang Yu really hadn’t skimmed any profits, but rather that he had used a particularly brilliant method to bypass the salary data.
Capable, highly regarded, and with a particularly high level of corruption, this instantly made Dugu Ming feel an even greater threat.
“No, I must definitely find his dirty secrets this time.”
So in the following days, Dugu Ming not only monitored the salary data, but also monitored Zhang Yu’s asset data and Immortal Coins accounts.
“His Immortal Coins not only haven’t increased… but have actually been decreasing?”
“He bought so many materials related to artifact refinement, is he setting up a production line in the Immortal Grotto-Heaven?”
“Where is the money? Where did the money he got through the Limitless Salary Increase Authority go?”
Dugu Ming investigated the origin of every sum of money in Zhang Yu’s account and found that it was either salary, bonuses, Xie Lanyin’s compensation, or Bu Yingshu’s tips. Every sum was almost perfectly clean, with absolutely no flaws to be found.
“If the money isn’t on him, then it means it’s on his subordinates.”
“Hmph… Zhang Yu, you might not have any flaws, but could your subordinates also be flawless?”
Thus, Dugu Ming expanded the scope of the investigation once again. Besides Zhang Yu, he included more and more of Zhang Yu’s subordinates, along with their various data, materials, and records, entirely into the scope of the investigation.
His first key target was Zhao Tianxing.
“Zhao Tianxing, the Chief Soul Cultivator under Zhang Yu, followed him all the way from the First Layer up to the sect.”
“Zhang Yu gave him the position of Spirit Transformation Soul Cultivator… this Zhao Tianxing must know quite a few of Zhang Yu’s secrets.”
Soon, Dugu Ming saw many Red Packets sending records related to Zhao Tianxing.
“Haha, found it. So they transfer money through Soul Cultivators? Thinking this trick of shifting the salary could fool me?”
But the next moment, Dugu Ming pulled a long face, because he found that those Red Packets only contained measly amounts like half or single Immortal Coins.
“They were all transferred to him by Soul Cultivators?”
“Damn it… Soul Cultivators are trash! You use this little money to test the trusted aide of a Spirit Transformation Cultivator, a Rank 5 Sect Staff?”
But soon, Dugu Ming discovered that the money in Zhao Tianxing’s account had been transferred around over the past two days. His heart immediately skipped a beat: “This is…”
Up until this moment, Zhao Tianxing felt as if he were in a dream.
Not only had he climbed into the sect, but he had even broken through to the Golden Core Realm, with hopes of reaching Spirit Transformation in the future, becoming an object of admiration for countless Soul Cultivators in the Former Days Graveyard.
Yet, all of this seemed insignificant compared to Zhang Yu.
“Zhang Yu has even obtained the Salary Authority; his future prospects are beyond what I can imagine.”
Zhao Tianxing recalled how Zhang Yu had led everyone to victory all the way, winning continuously right into the sect and the Former Days Graveyard. This gave him an unparalleled confidence in Zhang Yu, a confidence that even surpassed Zhang Yu’s own.
Zhao Tianxing believed that as long as he continued to follow Zhang Yu, they would keep winning, keep climbing higher, and continue charging toward the peak of the immortal path.
Therefore, he implicitly obeyed Zhang Yu’s commands, and even informed Zhang Yu about the Red Packets the Soul Cultivators sent him one by one.
Zhang Yu, however, replied, “In the future, there is no need to tell me about this bit of pocket change. Keep it yourself and use it however you want.”
Thus, Zhao Tianxing began to agonize over how to use this money.
“Should I spend it? Or save it?”
“If I save it, should it be a fixed deposit? Or a fund? Or some other wealth management product?”
“The ones with high profits have too high a risk, while the ones that guarantee the principal have too low a profit…”
“It is just a paltry sum of money. Moving it around is simply a waste of my energy to even pay attention to.”
Dugu Ming shook his head, but soon felt that he had found the next breakthrough point.
Under his surveillance, Dugu Ming discovered that Yu Xinghan, as the human resources manager of the Netherworld Assets Department, had purchased a large number of Yang Artifacts and Yin Artifacts, and even forced the subordinate Sect Staff and outsourced cultivators to install them.
Dugu Ming’s heart stirred, “Could it be an improper dual cultivation relationship? Monetizing by absorbing the cultivation of subordinates.”
Yu Xinghan looked at the crowd at the conference table and said, “Xiao Yunhe’s side has introduced new benefits, and we cannot fall behind.”
“From today onward, the amount of Yin Artifacts or Yang Artifacts carried by each person will be doubled, serving as free storage points for Soul Cultivators.”
Yu Xinghan knew that ever since Zhang Yu turned him into an Evil God Worshipper to save him, their fates had been intimately tied together.
Especially after experiencing countless life-and-death gambles, big and small, he believed that as long as Zhang Yu could climb the ranks, he would certainly not forget him and would pull him up as well, just like he had done time and time again in the past.
Zhang Yu was his Promotion Accelerator; helping Zhang Yu establish himself meant helping himself.
If possible, Yu Xinghan even hoped that Zhang Yu would have the chance to establish a new Dao Lineage in the future. At that time, he would definitely support him with all his might and become a founding elder under the new Dao Lineage.
In response to Yu Xinghan’s words, Jin Jun was the first down below to stand up and say, “This is Minister Zhang’s directive and Vice Minister Yu’s order! We will definitely give it our full support!”
“Very good.” Yu Xinghan applauded while encouraging them, “Everyone should learn from Jin Jun.”
“Speaking of which, this isn’t really a task assigned to you by the department, but rather a kind of welfare for you.”
“Like when I was a kid and my family was poor, I only had a single Yang Artifact from childhood to adulthood. How could I have had such good conditions as you do now?”
“So you guys… you installed so many Yang Artifacts just because you like them, right? I can see you are quite enjoying it.”
Dugu Ming did not believe the other party’s bureaucratic talk about wanting to house more Soul Cultivators. Who in Kunxu did not act for personal gain? In his eyes, Yu Xinghan was clearly using his power for personal benefit, possibly also related to making up for the regrets in his heart and complementing his dao heart.
But no matter what, this could not be considered a major matter, and it had even less to do with the Limitless Salary Increase Authority.
In the following days, Dugu Ming, carrying a feeling of disappointment, continued to investigate Ye Xingli, Shi Huaiyu, Magnetic Pole, Old Gao…
He found that they deceived Soul Cultivators, manipulated stock prices, secretly learned techniques from other sects, and ran to construction sites to steal materials… each and every one of them was a highly capable Sect Staff.
Although Dugu Ming found out all sorts of things about Zhang Yu’s subordinates, none of it had anything to do with the Limitless Salary Increase Authority.
“Could it be that Zhang Yu has apathy towards salary? Did he really not use the Limitless Salary Increase Authority to get himself even a little bit of benefit?”
“Did he just withstand the Limitless Salary Increase Authority, plus the influence brought by the Aspiration for the Immortal Dao Lineage like this?”
“Or is it… the kind that even I can’t find out?”
Dugu Ming could not be sure, but no matter which it was, in his view, it showed Zhang Yu’s capabilities.
And the Myriad Laws Immortal Emperor, upon receiving this report, would surely appreciate Zhang Yu even more.
But Dugu Ming knew even better that he absolutely could not falsify the report, because the Immortal Emperor hated it most when people lied to him.
As the Vice Hall Master of the Heavenly Surveillance Hall, Dugu Ming’s greatest merit before the Immortal Emperor was that he would not deceive him.
He could use the power in his hands to act a little willfully, he could engage in insider trading, he could have improper dual cultivation relationships, and he could even oppose a certain order of the Immortal Emperor, but he absolutely could not deceive the Immortal Emperor.
“Zhang Yu…” Thinking about how he had split off a large number of thoughts from within the Heavenly Surveillance Hall, descending upon the Former Days Graveyard time and time again, and after investigating for all these days, he actually failed to find any flaws in the other party, Dugu Ming felt secretly annoyed but also couldn’t help but feel a slight bit of admiration for Zhang Yu.
Just at this moment, a communication request floated before him.
A moment later, Fa Liuyuan’s projection descended and said, “Vice Hall Master Dugu, have you been investigating the matters of the Former Days Graveyard recently?”
Dugu Ming coldly snorted, “Your Reformist Faction is certainly well-informed.”
Fa Liuyuan said, “Zhang Yu is someone who submitted a proposal to the Immortal Emperor with me and received his praise. Vice Hall Master Dugu, you should also know that someone like Zhang Yu, who has the courage, is willing to take responsibility, and dares to expand outward, has always been appreciated by the Immortal Emperor.”
Fa Liuyuan knew that to someone like Dugu Ming, who was determined to be a solitary subject, a solitary immortal, and someone who would forever only be loyal to the Immortal Emperor, showing the Immortal Emperor’s attitude was the most important thing to protect Zhang Yu and avoid unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, Fa Liuyuan also conveniently displayed the Immortal Emperor’s response. “Myriad Laws Immortal Emperor: Understood, approved!”
Looking at this scene, Dugu Ming only sneered in his heart. “They submitted a proposal together?”
Dugu Ming clearly remembered that he personally gave Zhang Yu the Immortal Emperor’s private mail address.
He thought to himself, “Zhang Yu… is the same kind of person as me. I’m afraid he’s already sent countless messages to the Immortal Emperor privately.”
“It’s just that you Reformist Faction people don’t have the Emperor’s favor, so you simply don’t know.”
As for the Immortal Emperor’s message displayed by Fa Liuyuan, it was even more insignificant to Dugu Ming.
“Flaunting such a simple reply everywhere? If you saw the Immortal Emperor’s replies to me, wouldn’t you die of envy?”
“Moreover, such a rough reply looks like it was written by a dictation secretary.”
Looking at Fa Liuyuan in front of him, Dugu Ming was like looking at the least favored old dog in the family: “You can’t even tell the difference between the Immortal Emperor’s handwritten letter and a ghostwritten one, there really is nothing to say to people like you.”
Therefore, Dugu Ming did not explain much, but simply said: “I will handle this impartially, I do not need you to remind me.”
Severing the connection with Dugu Ming, Fa Liuyuan thought: “With me stepping forward on behalf of the Reformist Faction this time, plus the Immortal Emperor’s face, this mad dog Dugu Ming shouldn’t go too far.”
Then he went to the two Immortals and reported the current situation of the Former Days Graveyard to Immortal Roujia and Immortal Yi Xuan.
“Zhang Yu did not waste the Salary Authority we requested for him.” Fa Liuyuan praised: “Not only did he expand the market share past 10%, but he also turned the entire Soul Cultivator Industry upside down.”
“According to my observations, next, as the purchasing power of Soul Cultivators increases, a brand new market will be born, which is of great reference significance for our future reform plans.”
“In addition, Zhang Yu was not blinded by the Salary Authority during the whole process, and did not raise salaries recklessly, causing salary chaos in the Former Days Graveyard.”
“With such ability, such a dao heart…” Fa Liuyuan said, “I think we can let him go to the Fifteenth Layer together with Tai Yuebai after reaching Void Refinement, to establish the Third-Generation Law Edicts together.”
Fa Liuyuan knew that Tai Yuebai had remained at the peak of Void Refinement for many years, stubbornly refusing to break through, just to wait for the perfection of Immortal Dao Technology, and to establish the first-class Third-Generation Law Edicts in preparation for pioneering a new Dao Lineage.
“With Zhang Yu’s ability, he can definitely help him and become a pillar of support under the new Dao Lineage in the future.”
On the other side, apart from monitoring whether Zhang Yu was abusing the Limitless Salary Increase Authority, Dugu Ming had also been observing the industrial changes in the Former Days Graveyard.
And at this moment, he saw Xiao Yunhe convene a research meeting on salary increases, stating at the meeting that it was expected to achieve a comprehensive salary increase within a year.
“It is impossible to really increase salaries.”
In the Spirit Realm Conference Room, Xiao Yunhe said, “Facing the salary suppression erupting from the Soul Cultivators, the next step is still to focus on borderline salary increases.”
“Since it’s called borderline, naturally every time it looks like salaries are going to increase, but in fact, they never will, never crossing that line.”
Xie Lanyin said, “We can’t drag it out for too long. The market share on Zhang Yu’s side has already broken through 10%!”
“If this continues, breaking through 15%, or even 20%, is just a matter of time.”
Xiao Yunhe explained, “The Soul Cultivator positions provided to them by Myriad Laws and Heavenly Demon all need to be released slowly, wave by wave, according to contracts and procedures.”
“Also, apart from the first wave of surging temporary workers, the contract worker Soul Cultivators who will jump ship later will also need time to transfer wave by wave.”
“Although their market share will continue to rise from here on out, it will no longer be an explosive, doubling surge like this time.”
Xie Lanyin said, “And then what? We just continue to drag this out? Linger on with our last breath? Watch helplessly as Zhang Yu step by step captures the largest share of the market?”
With a flick of Xiao Yunhe’s thought, a series of images from the Former Days Graveyard manifested before the crowd. They showed various devices powered by Soul Cultivators, and all the different Soul Cultivators who were being seen and heard by the world.
“In the past, Soul Cultivators were like talismans within the Spirit Realm — merely segments of code that no one paid attention to, operating silently and unnoticed. Everyone grew accustomed to it; no one treated them like people.”
“But now, they have more money to spend. Consequently, their voices have grown louder; they can speak up for themselves and leave more of a mark… More and more people are beginning to realize that they, too, are people.”
Xie Lanyin instinctively felt a sense of unease: “Soul Cultivators… deserve to be viewed as people?”
Xiao Yunhe, however, showed not the slightest discomfort, replying as if it were the most natural thing in the world: “As long as their consumption levels continue to rise, then they are people! Rightfully and undeniably people.”
“Everyone, times have changed, and we should also change our perspective to take a good look at this thriving Former Days Graveyard before us.”
“With Zhang Yu’s salary increase, more and more Soul Cultivators have money. Once they have money, they will consume more. This is the future large market of Soul Cultivators.”
Xiao Yunhe smiled confidently: “Zhang Yu raises their salaries, and we provide services to the Soul Cultivators to earn their salaries. This is called the Salary-Sucking Magic.”
Hearing this, Xie Lanyin was slightly stunned: “Provide services for Soul Cultivators?”
Xiao Yunhe: “Yes.”
Xie Lanyin: “Do I have to do it too?”
Xiao Yunhe said naturally: “Of course. We Tribulation Transcendence and Void Refinement experts will go together to serve the Soul Cultivators. What great publicity is that?”
On the other side, Netherworld Palace’s Vice President Xie Xue nodded repeatedly: “That’s right. Although we lost a part of the market, we have gained a large market for serving Soul Cultivators. This is a new point of business growth. And with our accumulation of Soul Cultivation technology, this is our advantageous market.”
“Furthermore, there is a very important point in seizing this market, which is to be able to reduce the Myriad Laws Sect’s Dharma Realm recovery system.”
“Hehe, if the Dharma Realm cannot recover Immortal Coins on a large scale, will they be able to continue increasing salaries?”
Seeing everyone reach an agreement, Xie Lanyin frowned and disconnected, then reported the situation of the Former Days Alliance to the Perennial Child.
Perennial Child: You should earn the soul cultivators’ money if you can. Just hold on for a few years, there will be new changes in the future.
Xie Lanyin’s heart stirred, and she asked what the new changes were.
The Perennial Child smiled faintly, without any intention of hiding it, and said: “The Reincarnation Immortal Emperor, as well as the Immortal Emperors of my White Bone Cult and the Netherworld Sect, have decided to propose importing lower realm soul cultivators at the Heavenly Court’s Ten Emperors Conference.”
The Perennial Child said: “Circulation between the various layers is strictly controlled, and soul cultivators are even more so considered special goods, which have always had a high tax rate. But as long as the proposal to import lower realm soul cultivators succeeds, in the future, lower realm soul cultivators can be imported to the upper realm at a very low tax rate.”
The Perennial Child continued: “However, this matter will not be so fast, it is estimated that it will go through several rounds of back-and-forth. You should first lay out the soul cultivator service market for now. The money in the hands of soul cultivators is also money, step up and earn it back for me…”
Xie Lanyin knew that just like the various changes in the Lower Realm triggered by the past Dao Lineage Struggles in the sect, this change in the Soul Cultivator Industry starting from the Former Days Graveyard would also shake the Lower Realm.
Xie Lanyin thought to herself, “However, this may not be supported by all the Immortal Emperors, and there will probably be back and forths. But no matter what, the Dao Lineage Struggle in the Former Days Graveyard this time, and Zhang Yu’s actions, will inevitably have a profound impact on the future changes everywhere in Kunxu.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu, on the other side, had already arrived at the Heavenly Demon Sect’s secret stronghold in the Former Days Graveyard and met Kuang Tianqing there.
With his subordinate Soul Cultivator Company’s market share in the Former Days Graveyard breaking through 10%, he came to ask the other party for a new Evil God.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “The Feather Book… can finally be upgraded again.”
Looking at Zhang Yu in front of him, Kuang Tianqing couldn’t help clapping his hands and praising, “Amazing, Minister Zhang, your methods are even more amazing than I guessed. None of us expected you to break through the 10% market share so quickly. This greatly exceeded our expectations.”