Chapter 887: The Filial Tai Yuebai, Divine Light Tenth Transformation
Tai Chenggong was once a Rank 3 Sect Staff at the Nascent Soul Realm.
Originally, with his limited Immortal Dao Potential, he might have spent his entire life grinding away at the Rank 3 Sect Staff position, working all the way until he went bankrupt.
But perhaps due to his profound Qi Luck, among the several sons he invested in during his early years, there was one named Tai Yuebai. This son gained the appreciation of the upper echelons of the Myriad Laws Sect, enjoying a meteoric rise with both his rank and cultivation climbing steadily.
What made Tai Chenggong sigh with even more emotion was that Tai Yuebai was also a filial son.
Just how filial was Tai Yuebai? Not only did he remit money to Tai Chenggong on time every month, but whatever cultivation realm he reached himself, he would elevate Tai Chenggong to that same cultivation realm.
Nowadays, as the Chief Soul Cultivator under Tai Yuebai, whenever Tai Chenggong recalled the past and thought of how Tai Yuebai presided over the Soul Cultivator conversion ceremony — not only killing his Dad for free but also personally sending him into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner for nurturing — he would sigh in admiration over having invested in such a good son.
By now, the relationship between the two parties had even transformed from a cold and shallow father-son relationship into a close and pure employment relationship.
It was precisely because of this close relationship that even when Tai Yuebai was banished to the 18th underground layer of Kunxu, driven by their contract and dependent relationship, Tai Chenggong never abandoned him, always staying by his side and working hard to earn more money for him.
“If I don’t work a little harder, how can Dao Lord Tai make more money? How can he take a shot at Tribulation Transcendence? How can he reach the Ascension Realm? How can he achieve immortality?”
Tai Chenggong simply believed. He believed that with Tai Yuebai’s aptitude and potential, his dormancy was only temporary, and there would inevitably come a day when he soared to the heavens.
Furthermore, he had listened to Tai Yuebai’s own analysis and knew that Ying Xintian had banished them to the 18th underground level specifically to let them avoid disaster.
Later, upon learning that Ying Xintian had betrayed the sect and countless clansmen and disciples were implicated, Tai Chenggong could only marvel at Ying Xintian’s foresight in extracting Tai Yuebai and himself so early on.
Afterward, the situation changed. The third-generation Law Edict was about to be established, and the time for their rise had finally come.
“Becoming the first batch of founders of the third-generation Law Edict, and subsequently truly jumping off the chessboard to become the creators of a new Dao Lineage…
“This is a rare opportunity that comes once in a millennium. No matter how much effort we invest or how careful we are, it is never too much.”
Today, as a Soul Cultivator of the Void Refinement Realm, Tai Chenggong had secretly come to the Former Days Graveyard precisely for the preparatory work of the third-generation Law Edict.
He wanted to test the mettle of that Rank 6 Sect Staff named Zhang Yu.
This concerned whether Tai Yuebai would include Zhang Yu in the subsequent plans.
Although Zhang Yu’s resume carried a lot of weight, having become a Rank 6 Sect Staff in just a few short years and even being awarded one Superior Merit and one Extraordinary Merit, in Tai Chenggong’s thoughts, His cultivation realm is too low; he is still only at Spirit Transformation. Even if he breaks through to Void Refinement before the Law Establishment, his participation would probably be nothing more than a marginal role.
The matter of the Law Edict is no trivial thing. If the person assisting is unreliable, then it is better not to have them at all.
Because the matter was of great importance, Tai Chenggong was afraid of being deceived by false data. Therefore, in order to learn Zhang Yu’s true situation and obtain first-hand information, Tai Chenggong did not choose to descend openly, but instead chose to investigate secretly.
This old man walks the path of a ghost immortal. In the future, I will follow Dao Lord Tai to achieve ascension together and become a ghost immortal.
With my cultivation at the Void Refinement Realm and my veteran Spirit Realm Techniques, infiltrating Zhang Yu’s place for an investigation will be completely unnoticed. As long as I do not voluntarily reveal myself, Zhang Yu can forget about discovering my traces.
Tai Chenggong attached himself to a Thousand-Mile Warrior, following a puppet across the Grotto-Heaven Bridge and into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
Feeling the vastness of the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, Tai Chenggong sighed in his heart, Alas, who knows what Patriarch Ying is thinking? How wonderful would it be if this Immortal Grotto-Heaven were given to Dao Lord Tai? The matter of the third-generation Law Establishment… would have its success rate increased by at least twenty percent.
In Tai Chenggong’s view, Ying Xintian giving the Immortal Legacy to Zhang Yu… was truly a reckless waste of god’s gifts.
However, the very moment Tai Chenggong infiltrated the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, Zhang Yu discovered the anomaly right away.
Fu Ji’s voice also rang out in Zhang Yu’s mind: “Hmph! Inside the Immortal Grotto-Heaven… is a local Spirit Realm that I created based on the Dark Spirit Realm. No matter how high your Spirit Realm techniques are, you will still leave behind clues.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu had already deployed his Puppet Army. Circulating energy through his Bionics, he monitored and locked down the entire Grotto-Heaven.
His gaze traversed the visual fields of puppet after puppet, quickly locking onto the one possessed by Tai Chenggong, and instantly pulled up every data point from the puppet’s internal and external sensors.
Looking at the resources being occupied and mobilized within his body, as well as the changing characteristics of various data, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Is this… a Soul Cultivator?”
Fu Ji’s expression also grew solemn. “A Void Refinement Realm Soul Cultivator…”
Hearing the words “Void Refinement,” Zhang Yu immediately took a step forward. Accompanied by the power of the Grotto-Heaven Manifestation, he directly jumped from the Immortal Grotto-Heaven to his office in the Former Days Graveyard.
With the rapid increase in his strength, Zhang Yu’s working and tactical modes had also been thoroughly upgraded.
Hundreds, even thousands of puppets had become his countless tentacles — the medium through which he unleashed his power and interfered with the world. They were as much his workforce as they were his weapons.
His main body, meanwhile, no longer needed to charge at the frontlines. He could sit securely in the rear, protected and untouchable, while sending out an inexhaustible magical artifact army and puppets to swallow up any task… or any opponent.
And the Immortal Grotto-Heaven was his safest sanctuary, as well as his means of deploying power.
When his opponents were in the material realm, he would hide inside the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
But if, like now, a Void Refinement-level Soul Cultivator infiltrated the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, Zhang Yu had two choices.
He could either directly send the other party out of the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, or temporarily jump to the material realm himself to guarantee his safety.
The Immortal Grotto-Heaven could always serve as a safe barrier, isolating him from danger.
At this moment, Zhang Yu decided not to alert the enemy just yet. After jumping out of the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, he secretly observed… wanting to see exactly what this Void Refinement Realm Soul Cultivator was trying to do.
Watching this scene, the Auspicious God sighed inwardly, “This guy Zhang Yu… ever since he got rich, he has become increasingly cautious and even harder to kill.”
“With his current fighting style, one must attack from both inside and outside the Immortal Grotto-Heaven simultaneously to have any chance of bypassing the magical artifact army and attacking Zhang Yu head-on.”
“But once they actually attack Zhang Yu…” The Auspicious God shook his head inwardly. “The opponent will realize that Zhang Yu is far harder to kill than that magical artifact army.”
On the other side, the Herald God was also analyzing the situation in his mind, “For the current Zhang Yu, an opponent of the same level who wants to defeat him only has one method… exhausting him to death. But… at the same level, is there really anyone who can outlast him?”
“I’m afraid that any cultivator, regardless of their combat style, upon facing Zhang Yu, will either have inferior combat prowess and be beaten to death directly, or…”
“…they will be dragged by Zhang Yu into a war of attrition that benefits him the most, only to be slowly exhausted to death by him.”
In Zhang Yu’s observation, Tai Chenggong jumped and attached himself back and forth among the different puppets, collecting intelligence within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
They are all puppets below the Void Refinement Realm. They’re fine for making money, but meaningless in front of a Void Refinement cultivator.
That’s true… Zhang Yu is merely at the Spirit Transformation Realm, so it’s impossible for him to manufacture a magical artifact dharma puppet at the Void Refinement Realm.
Looking at the various puppets on the production lines, although Tai Chenggong didn’t know much about artifact refinement, he could tell that these puppets bore the styles and traces of many other companies and enterprises.
“They’re all just patched-together things. Only Extreme Dragon does this sort of thing, so how could Myriad Laws produce such a disciple?”
Extreme Dragon was the sect enterprise of the Immortal Armaments Bureau, one of the ten great sects. What they excelled at was referencing and imitating the magical artifacts of various sects, integrating the strengths of a hundred schools of thought, and then manufacturing low-cost, degraded versions to defeat their opponents with cost and quantity advantages.
And in the lower realm, Extreme Dragon also had a very famous subordinate unit named Extreme Tiger.
Seeing that Zhang Yu also followed the artifact refinement style of Extreme Dragon, Tai Chenggong felt even more disdain in his heart.
It’s a good thing I came to take a look myself. This kind of method, this kind of strength, this kind of style… if he were to participate in the plan, wouldn’t he just hold Dao Lord Tai back?
Tai Chenggong shook his head inwardly. After sensing that Zhang Yu’s Immortal Dao Technology was nothing special, he became even more reckless within the Immortal Grotto-Heaven. He felt that he could roam freely here without having to worry about being discovered by Zhang Yu at all.
But in the very next moment, a projection suddenly descended from the sky, landing right in front of the puppet Tai Chenggong had possessed.
It was none other than Zhang Yu’s projection.
The projection opened its mouth and said, “Friend, have you seen enough?”
Tai Chenggong, who was brazenly gathering information within the Grotto-Heaven, was startled by Zhang Yu’s sudden voice. He discovered me? How is that possible?
Could there be something special about this puppet I possessed? Or was he coincidentally controlling this puppet and I bumped into him?
Regardless of how he was discovered, since Tai Chenggong had come to investigate in secret, he naturally didn’t want to be caught red-handed by the other party.
If that happened, wouldn’t that put him at a disadvantage in their future conversations? If Dao Lord Tai found out, it would also lower his evaluation of him.
Even if we are to talk, I must be the one to take the initiative to show myself and start it…
In the blink of an eye, Tai Chenggong hopped rapidly between over a dozen different puppets, relocating himself over a kilometer away. He thought to himself, Hmph, can they still find me now?
On the other side, Fu Ji observed Tai Chenggong’s leaping movements as if watching a firefly in the pitch dark.
She said in Zhang Yu’s mind, “This guy is a bit stubborn… but he is merely hiding, fleeing, and gathering intelligence. It doesn’t seem like he’s here to cause sabotage.”
Zhang Yu said, “Is it confirmed? Is he alone?”
Fu Ji said, “It’s just him, no one else. Moreover, after entering the local Spirit Realm, he cannot communicate with the outside world, but we don’t know if there is anyone waiting to receive him outside.”
Zhang Yu said, “Then let’s bring him under control first.”
If the other party were an orthodox cultivator at the Void Refinement Realm, Zhang Yu would have immediately called for backup.
But a Soul Cultivator at the Void Refinement Realm… Standing in his office, Zhang Yu’s gaze shifted slightly, seemingly peering right across the Immortal Grotto-Heaven toward the direction of the Spirit Transformation Pool.
Inside the Spirit Transformation Pool, Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit, which had been soaking until now, was releasing a dazzling brilliance. On this day, it finally completed the ten divine light transformations, reaching the peak state of the Spirit Transformation Realm.
“Perfect timing to test out my newly designed workflow.”
Amidst a soft hum, the Primordial Spirit within the Spirit Transformation Pool shot into the sky like a pillar of light. The next moment, it descended before Tai Chenggong with a swish at near light speed.
After reaching the tenth divine light transformation, Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit could not only cross the Spirit Realm, but its flight speed… was like thunder and lightning, able to cross even 100,000 kilometers in an instant.
Tai Chenggong looked at the Primordial Spirit that suddenly appeared before him, his heart skipping a beat. “Ten divine light transformations already? It seems he really can break through to Void Refinement before Law Establishment.”
Tai Chenggong wasn’t too surprised that Zhang Yu could complete the ten divine light transformations in less than two years.
“It seems Fa Liuyuan’s side invested a lot of resources into this Zhang Yu, allowing him to reach this stage in just two short years.”
“Hmph… But rather than wasting these resources, why not put all their effort into supporting Dao Lord Tai?”
In Tai Chenggong’s view, the Immortal Coins invested in Zhang Yu would be better spent on Tai Yuebai to add a few more points of winning odds for the third-generation Law Edict and the future Dao Lineage.
Meanwhile, Tai Chenggong’s consciousness jumped once again, and he thought to himself, “He thinks a ten transformations Primordial Spirit can catch me? This kid probably hasn’t sensed my cultivation realm at all, much less knows the gap between us.”
“Let me show you my Great Spirit Splitting Art!”
Tai Chenggong’s consciousness violently split apart, transforming into countless gusts of sinister wind that drilled into one puppet after another. Then, they split again, drilling into various different devices.
“With my level in the Void Refinement Realm, the split spirits I create are enough to pass off as the real thing.”
“Furthermore, the split spirits can also occupy the computing resources of the puppets, allowing them to continue splitting endlessly. If Zhang Yu wants to track all of them, can the computing power he commands even keep up?”
Continuously splitting and jumping just like this, Tai Chenggong’s true body had already jumped into a magical artifact.
Just as he thought he had completely shaken off Zhang Yu’s tracking, a voice rang out, “Have you had enough fun?”
Tai Chenggong was suddenly startled, only then realizing… that after jumping all the way, he had actually jumped right into a Yang Artifact held in the hands of Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit.
“How is this possible?!”
Just as Tai Chenggong was greatly shocked, over at Zhang Yu’s main body… the newly generated Calculation Pools were operating at full capacity, helping him grasp every single split spirit of Tai Chenggong.
Meanwhile, following Zhang Yu’s intent, the power of the Supreme Clarity Talisman descended into the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, shielding a massive area of the local Spirit Realm for him.
It was precisely because of the large-scale shielding of the Supreme Clarity Talisman that Tai Chenggong was guided to continuously jump until he ultimately fell into Zhang Yu’s hands.
Sensing the local Spirit Realm being shielded by the Supreme Clarity Talisman, Fu Ji was also surprised inwardly: “What domineering Spirit Realm techniques! When did this guy Zhang Yu… learn these?”
“Oh no, could it be that Auspicious Guy and Herald Guy secretly taught him? That’s impossible… Those two guys’ control over the Dark Spirit Realm couldn’t have surpassed mine?”
On the other side, the Herald God and Auspicious God were secretly alarmed: “The Fortune God actually has this trick up her sleeve?”
After after Tai Chenggong jumped into the Yang Artifact, he realized he could no longer jump away. The outside local Spirit Realm was deathly still, as if it had completely vanished.
This guy… Tai Chenggong thought to himself. Could it be that to catch me, he shut down the local Spirit Realm within the entire Grotto-Heaven?
In his view, only by doing so could this current effect be achieved.
At the same time, Tai Chenggong still had questions in his heart: How exactly did he track my movements, and how did he accurately calculate that I would jump here?
Zhang Yu looked at the Yang Artifact in front of him and said indifferently, “Care to talk?”
Tai Chenggong coldly snorted, instantly transforming into a dense gust of Yin wind that surged upward.
He thought to himself, Although I am a Soul Cultivator, I am still in the Void Refinement Realm after all. If you think this alone is enough to capture me, you’re being far too delusional…
Watch me gather Yin to form a body!
Bursts of Yin Qi could be seen condensing into Tai Chenggong’s human form. In the next moment, he intended to use martial arts and daoist arts to personally forcefully break out.
Although as a Soul Cultivator, his use of gathering yin to take form meant the martial arts and daoist arts he could utilize were limited, and their power was far inferior to a normal Void Refinement Cultivator, in Tai Chenggong’s eyes, it was more than enough to deal with a mere Spirit Transformation cultivator.
But in the very next moment, Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit pointed out a finger.
At the same time, within the entire Immortal Grotto-Heaven, all the magical artifacts and puppets stopped their work at exactly the same moment, and then erupted with their own power.
The next moment, these powers had already been teleported through the Immortal Grotto-Heaven, crossing the Grotto-Heaven Bridge, and appeared at the fingertip of Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit.
Including the temporary magic power puppets, as well as the physical puppets produced from the assembly line, the attacks of over two thousand Spirit Transformation Realm puppets in total had all converged at the fingertip of Zhang Yu’s Primordial Spirit at this moment.
At this moment, Tai Chenggong only felt that his figure had already been locked onto by countless Spirit Transformation level powers.
If it were just a siege of Spirit Transformation level power, he had plenty of ways to break through.
But when two thousand streams of Spirit Transformation level power gathered together, locked onto his body, and were close at hand, Tai Chenggong felt that his attitude just now was highly problematic.
With a “whoosh,” he drilled back into the Yang Artifact in Zhang Yu’s hand and said respectfully, “Minister Zhang…”