Chapter 944: Sit Tight, This is the Post-Golden Age

“The implementation of the Law Edict Expiration Date is divided into three batches over the next 50 years. They are the first batch on January 1st of this year, the second batch 20 years from now, and the third batch 50 years from now.”

“Starting on January 1st of this year, there are a total of 17 Law Edicts in the first batch pending freezing and approval.”

“These 17 Law Edicts affect all aspects of society. It is impossible to freeze them all at once; there must inevitably be an order of priority.”

“As for which Law Edicts I would freeze first after the formal law establishment on January 1st… there was a lot of controversy within the department.”

In front of the camera, Zhang Yu sighed with a profound expression, “Actually, on my first day joining the Effectiveness Review Department, I told all my colleagues that the very first Law Edicts I wanted to freeze were the ‘Four-Hour Workday’ and ‘Pay for Overtime.’”

“The moment I announced this decision, they immediately told me it was impossible. They said that adjusting working hours was a matter of grave importance, where a single change would affect everything. They argued that Paid Overtime was an important source of sect revenue, and that doing this would ruin the business environment, destroy the stability of the sect, and result in a situation where no one would dare to start a company. What then?”

“They kept telling me that these two Law Edicts must be left until the very end to be frozen.”

Zhang Yu pointed at his own head and said, “But after 2,543 hours of Dharma Realm acceleration meetings, 126,580 arguments, and over a million thoughts and brainstorms in my brain, I finally convinced everyone.”

“During this period, leaders questioned me with anger, colleagues couldn’t take it and chose to transfer, people used their power to send the Dual Cultivation Support Department to investigate me, and many, many stakeholders sent me warnings. They told me… doing this would definitely trigger sect turmoil and shock the friendly sects.”

“But I still made up my mind, I am definitely freezing Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime!”

“Because I know… the Sect has suffered bitterly from these two laws for a long time!”

Along with Zhang Yu’s impassioned shout, sheets of bullet comments instantly flooded the stream. “Dao Monarch Zhang! We respect, love, and support you!”

“Dao Monarch Zhang is here, work hours are free! Dao Monarch Zhang is here! Overtime is free!”

Looking at these swaths of bullet comments, Zhang Yu sensed a slight rise in the Thought Tide Amplification and said in his heart to the Sect Examination Clone, “The stream’s effect is pretty good, keep talking.”

Although the Sect Examination Clone’s words were somewhat exaggerated, Zhang Yu knew that what he said wasn’t wrong.

Regarding the first Law Edict to freeze, whether it was the clones in his brain, the Evil Gods led by Fu Ji, the Sect Staff within the Effectiveness Department, or his companions from various factions around him, they had discussed it many times.

Many people had also tried to dissuade Zhang Yu, suggesting that he practice with some less impactful Law Edicts first, and leave the more impactful ones like “Four-Hour Workday” and “Pay for Overtime” to freeze later.

But Zhang Yu was unwilling to do that.

Looking at the cultivators constantly flooding into the livestream to express their support, Zhang Yu recalled the words Su Xianchen had spoken in his mind.

Not just about the rewards like the Tribulation Certificate, the two Law Establishment Quotas, and Fa Liuyuan’s Feather Book, but more so about the intelligence on their opponents.

“Supreme Truth will be returning this year. When that time comes, I’m afraid there will be another fierce struggle within the sect, which will definitely affect my mission.”

“I must seize the time to advance the mission and accumulate strength before then… It would be best if I could complete the freezing of these 17 Law Edicts before Supreme Truth returns to the sect.”

“And if I want to speed things up…” Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Then for a Law Edict, it must gain higher support and recognition to expand faster and make the Thought Tide Amplification grow more rapidly.”

Zhang Yu understood that the cultivators’ support and recognition for the Law Edict Expiration Date had always been built upon their opposition to other Law Edicts.

Taking the initiative to freeze those… Law Edicts that had long been disgusted by numerous cultivators would allow him to gain support, expand, and increase the Thought Tide Amplification much faster.

“Second-generation Law Edicts can only receive the blessings of Thought Tide Amplification but cannot influence the Thought Tide itself; they lack the property of gaining more recognition the more they are followed. Therefore, there are many Law Edicts that, despite being implemented for years, are still disgusted by countless cultivators.”

“For example, the ‘Four-Hour Workday’ and ‘Pay for Overtime’ are called Beastly Law Edicts by many cultivators, the root of all evil.”

With a stir of Zhang Yu’s mind, the latest public opinion survey report floated before his eyes.

This report surveyed the populace’s support for different Law Edicts across the various Law Edict True Domains within the Myriad Laws Sect. By synthesizing observation records of Thought Tide data, it ranked the numerous Law Edicts within the sect based on their Thought Tide Amplification.

Because of this, the survey report was also known as the Myriad Laws Sect Law Edict Rankings.

And right now, what Zhang Yu was paying attention to was the Void Refinement Law Edict Rankings within it.

As his gaze swept over, he already saw “Four-Hour Workday” and “Pay for Overtime” ranked among the bottom few.

And if the 17 Law Edicts waiting to be frozen next were all marked on the Rankings, then “Pay for Overtime” and “Four-Hour Workday” would rank last and second-to-last respectively among these 17.

“These two Law Edicts are the most unpopular and have the lowest Thought Tide Amplification among the 17, which means they are also the ones that can most effectively gain support for my Law Edict Expiration Date.”

Zhang Yu could feel that at this moment in the Four Seasons Minor Realm… countless cultivators were rejoicing over the freezing of “Four-Hour Workday” and “Pay for Overtime”, causing the Thought Tide Amplification of the Law Edict Expiration Date to continuously grow, further driving the expansion of the Law Edict True Domain.

Especially after adding his live broadcasts and propaganda, this growth momentum was becoming stronger and stronger.

“Very good, just keep growing like this.”

Immortal Slayer said, “The vast majority of cultivators working on the 16th layer… all hate these two Law Edicts. We will first rely on these two Law Edicts to expand…”

In Zhang Yu’s plan, after relying on freezing these two Law Edicts for rapid expansion to obtain enough True Domain area and Thought Tide Amplification, he would then consider freezing other Law Edicts.

Meanwhile, his gaze swept all the way to the top of the Rankings, ultimately stopping at the 10th position.

“Dual Cultivation Obligation, ranked 10th in the Void Refinement Law Edict Rankings of the Myriad Laws Sect.”

“It is also the highest-ranked Law Edict with the highest Thought Tide Amplification among the 17 Law Edicts to be frozen this time.”

Looking at this ranking, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, “Do they all like dual cultivation this much?”

Zhang Yu understood in his heart that this ranking meant… his Law Edict Expiration Date must reach the top 10 to make its Thought Tide Amplification higher than that of the Dual Cultivation Obligation. Only then could he gain the upper hand when the two Law Edicts clashed and successfully freeze the opponent.

Looking at the current ranking of his Law Edict Expiration Date at this moment, it was unranked.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “I guess I’ll only be able to see my ranking after the list updates next week.”

Although climbing into the top 10 of the Void Refinement rankings didn’t look easy, Zhang Yu was very confident about it.

“A third-generation Law Edict can inherently influence the Thought Tides; it has a great advantage in this regard.”

“And as long as my Law Edict Expiration Date continues to expand, I can gain the Thought Tide Amplification brought by more and more people… supporting my Law Edict Expiration Date because they oppose other Law Edicts and want me to freeze them…”

Zhang Yu believed that as long as he continuously expanded his Law Edict True Domain, climbing into the top ten… or even becoming the number one Void Refinement Law Edict, was only a matter of time.

“Before that, I should try to avoid conflicts as much as possible.”

Zhang Yu thought inwardly, “However, even if I want to avoid conflicts, they probably won’t let me grow so easily, right?” The scene of the previous surprise inspection by the Dual Cultivation Support Department surfaced in his mind.

---

Over the next two weeks, Zhang Yu’s Law Edict Expiration Date experienced rapid growth, unknowingly expanding to cover more than half of the minor realm.

And on the Myriad Laws Sect’s Void Refinement Law Edict Rankings, the data for the Law Edict Expiration Date was officially registered.

“Law Edict Expiration Date, ranked 543rd?”

Within a certain minor realm on the 16th layer of Kunxu.

A plump, pig-shaped projection looked at the rankings; it was none other than Zhu Yan, who had led the surprise inspection of the Netherworld Assets Department last time.

Zhu Yan sighed, “Although this ranking is very low, his growth speed is very fast. After all, there are too many people who are disgusted by the Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime.”

“If we let him continue to grow like this, I’m afraid it won’t be a few months before Zhang Yu’s True Domain expands to the entire 16th layer.”

“You already know the property of this Law Edict. Once the range of his True Domain expands… the Thought Tide Amplification will inevitably skyrocket.”

At the same time Zhu Yan was speaking, another snake-shaped projection to the side said, “Dao Monarch Zhu, Zhang Yu indeed grew very fast at the beginning, but the Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime have a significant impact after all. As the old saying goes, the livelihood of one million workers depends on it. The larger the range Zhang Yu expands, the more troubles it will cause and the more problems it will expose.”

“When that time comes, it will be the perfect opportunity for us to strike.”

The person speaking was named Venerable Serpent Lust, a Rank 6 Void Refinement Cultivator, and the very legislator of the Dual Cultivation Obligation Law Edict.

As a monsterfolk, although Venerable Serpent Lust was born in the Myriad Laws Sect and his ancestors were mounts for the cultivators of the Myriad Laws Sect — making him a typical sect-born monster — he never believed in his heart that the Myriad Laws Sect was the Righteous Immortal Dao.

“The current Righteous Immortal Dao, the true legacy of the Righteous Path… is long gone from these Human Race sects.”

“The Righteous Immortal Dao lies in Celestial Monsters, in the hands of us monsterfolk.”

“Only our monsterfolk’s attitude towards dual cultivation, towards reproduction, and towards bloodlines is the most beneficial to Kunxu and best adapts to the development of the Immortal Dao.”

This was the thought in Venerable Serpent Lust’s mind. In his view… after the Great Righteous-Demonic War, these so-called famous and upright sects like the Myriad Laws Sect had long lost the character of the Righteous Path.

And the decline in population and birth rate within the Myriad Laws Sect, in his opinion, also proved this point.

Of course, the humans in Venerable Serpent Lust’s thoughts naturally did not include Immortals. After achieving immortality, one transcended race and became an existence standing above all races.

And Venerable Serpent Lust firmly believed… that replacing humans with monsters would be the general trend of the era, something that the ten Immortal Emperors were silently promoting.

“After all, humans are no longer suitable for Kunxu, where Immortal Dao Technology is now highly developed.”

“It is quite normal. Humans are merely naturally born creatures, so how can they compare to us monsterfolk, who were personally designed and created by the Immortals and have been tempered a thousand times over… We monsterfolk are naturally more compatible with the development of Immortal Dao Technology than humans.”

“Just like how the Primordial Deities were eliminated by today’s Righteous Gods and reduced to Evil Gods.”

“The Immortal Emperors wiped out the Primordial Deities and used the Righteous Gods to better govern the world. In the future Kunxu World, tools like humans are also destined to be eliminated. The monsterfolk will become better tools for the Immortal Emperors, and the only ones capable of competing with us… might just be the High-Intelligence Artifact Spirits.”

“To use an artifact refinement analogy, humans are just ordinary magical artifacts, while we monsterfolk are immortal artifacts.”

It was precisely based on this judgment of the overall trend of Kunxu that Venerable Serpent Lust believed the Celestial Monster Sect of the future would inevitably become the first among the Ten Great Sects.

Through the channels of the Supreme Truth Immortal Clan, he had already established contact with the Celestial Monster Sect early on.

For Venerable Serpent Lust, while the Myriad Laws Sect was ranked among the top three sects, he would leverage its environment to cultivate and gain more Immortal Dao Potential.

If the future situation ever changed, he would defect to the Celestial Monster Sect, become a superior monster, and continue to obtain excellent Immortal Dao resources.

Regardless, with the assistance of the Supreme Truth Immortal Clan, his Dual Cultivation Obligation would be highly useful no matter which sect he joined.

And before he knew it, Venerable Serpent Lust suddenly realized that the situation was about to usher in a monumental shift.

“Immortal Venerable Supreme Truth’s previous concessions were indeed just her biding her time, accumulating the strength to counterattack.”

“This time, with the assistance of the Celestial Monster Sect, if the Celestial Monster Immortal Emperor also makes a move… I’m afraid even the Myriad Laws Immortal Emperor will have to bow his head.”

Venerable Serpent Lust understood… although the struggle at the highest level had not yet truly begun, the undercurrents were already surging. What followed would be enough to engulf the world; even his upcoming clash with Zhang Yu was merely a tiny corner of this great war. At this moment, it was unknown how many overt and covert battles had already been gradually set in motion by the intentions of the upper-tier cultivators.

These various thoughts flashed through his mind, and in the next moment, Venerable Serpent Lust refocused on the present, bringing his attention back to his own game of chess with Zhang Yu.

Whether it was due to Immortal Venerable Supreme Truth’s instructions or his own personal interests, Venerable Serpent Lust wanted to do his utmost to delay Zhang Yu’s freezing of Law Edicts.

“My Dual Cultivation Obligation has always received support from the various factions within the sect, and even Zhang Yu himself is an expert in dual cultivation. As long as I have this level of support, Zhang Yu will inevitably put me last in line for freezing.”

Venerable Serpent Lust analyzed, “Therefore, I have plenty of leeway to wait for Zhang Yu’s Law Edict Expiration Date to grow a bit. Once he makes enough blunders, I will then make my move against him.”

As they spoke, with a mere thought from him, lines of data and intelligence floated before his eyes.

“Just in these past two weeks alone, many companies have suffered financial losses, and quite a few cultivators have opposed the freezing of these Law Edicts.”

“Heh, the lower-tier cultivators are shallow and can only see immediate benefits. How could they understand that after years of adaptation, all walks of life have become accustomed to the Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime, generating all sorts of supporting equipment and services because of it? How could it be changed just like that?”

Venerable Serpent Lust said decisively: “Zhang Yu acting so roughly and forcefully will inevitably cause problems. What we need to do is amplify his problems.”

Zhu Yan nodded slightly, seemingly in agreement, and then asked: “What do you plan to do?”

Venerable Serpent Lust smiled slightly, and faces familiar enough to Zhang Yu appeared before his eyes: “Doesn’t he love bringing up those poor ghosts from below?”

“Perfect, then I will send all his friends from below up here to help him out properly…”

Hearing Venerable Serpent Lust’s plan, Zhu Yan slightly flicked his fangs: “What else? Is there anything you need my help with?”

With a flick of Venerable Serpent Lust’s finger, a light screen flickered into view, displaying row after row of matched pairings.

Taking in the scene, Zhu Yan asked, “Coitus conscription?”

What, exactly, was coitus conscription?

If anyone were to ask Venerable Serpent Lust that question, he would tell them: “Ancient times had labor conscription and military conscription. So what kind of conscription do you think co-itus… this ‘coming together’ conscription, actually is?” ¹

As a supporting regulatory clause to the Dual Cultivation Obligation law, Venerable Serpent Lust had the authority to designate cultivators within the sect for dual cultivation matching, forcing them to serve their coitus conscription.

But looking at the freshly matched pairing of Zhang Yu and Gao Chongguang on the screen, Venerable Serpent Lust shook his head. “What use is this? With Zhang Yu’s sect-nature—for a social butterfly like him—cultivating with his own teacher is probably as natural as breathing. Dual cultivation with someone of the same biological sex would be as easy as eating a meal or taking medicine.”

Zhu Yan nodded. “So… you need him matched with someone else?”

“Precisely,” Venerable Serpent Lust said. “Although I can initiate the coitus conscription and apply for a match, as you know… the actual matching process is not in my hands.”

Zhu Yan naturally knew this. It was just like how Zhang Yu, despite controlling the Law Edict Expiration Date, had no way to decide which law the sect would freeze or which law would be approved.

The vast majority of Void Refinement Cultivators inevitably surrendered final control over their own laws to the higher-ups; otherwise, the contents of their edicts would never have been approved.

Take Venerable Serpent Lust’s Dual Cultivation Obligation for example. he specific annual quota for this obligation, as well as the matching targets for the coitus conscription… none of these decisions were in his hands.

Venerable Serpent Lust said, “I hope you can use some of your influence to slightly modify this matching result.”

Zhu Yan understood that the other party was referring not only to his own influence as a Tribulation Transcendence Cultivator, but more so the influence Immortal Venerable Supreme Truth had left behind within the Myriad Laws Sect.

Although Immortal Venerable Supreme Truth had suffered a tremendous impact because of Ying Xintian, as the greatest contributor in the Great Righteous-Demonic War and a senior elder of the Myriad Laws Sect, Zhu Yan knew that this Immortal Venerable’s latent influence within the sect was still massive.

Among the Immortals in the Myriad Laws Sect alone, how many of them had not taken Immortal Venerable Supreme Truth’s money, received his guidance, or consumed his flesh and blood? These were all debts owed to the Immortal Venerable, and they had to be repaid.

Zhu Yan nodded and asked, “Who do you want him matched with?”

Venerable Serpent Lust smiled faintly and said, “Naturally, it is the target Zhang Yu least wants for dual cultivation, a trump card capable of stopping his freezing of Law Edict.”

---

Meanwhile, in the Four Seasons Minor Realm.

“The Law Edict has already expanded through most of the minor realm; it is time to continue expanding outward.”

Zhang Yu looked at the feedback from the Dharma Realm and the Spirit Realm. Thanks to the numerous cultivators’ disgust toward the two Law Edicts and the continuous propaganda over the past two weeks, he could see that the cultivators in the various minor realms on the 16th layer were now crying out for relief. They were eagerly anticipating the descent of his Law Edict to freeze the Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime one by one.

Thus, Zhang Yu initiated the second phase of his plan.

The avatars of Ban Jinchen, Lie Jinghong, Kuang Zhiqian, and Bu Yingshu lit up before him one after another.

Zhang Yu sent a message to the four of them one by one: “The Four Seasons Minor Realm is almost settled. Next, I hope to expand the Law Edict into your minor realms…”

Among the four, the minor realms managed by Ban Jinchen and Kuang Zhiqian were already located on the 16th layer.

Although Bu Yingshu had broken through to Tribulation Transcendence and held a Rank 7 position, she still kept her minor realm abode on the 16th layer.

And Lie Jinghong, who held Rank 8 and had similarly broken through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, had his immortal abode on the 18th layer, but his Law Edict Pilot was a minor realm on the 16th layer.

Furthermore, to Zhang Yu, these four were among the more trustworthy Sect Staff on the 16th layer of Kunxu, and they were also the Sect Staff who cooperated the most with his work…

Thus, as early as when preparations were being made last year, Zhang Yu had already discussed it with the four of them. They agreed that once the expansion of the Law Edict True Domain in the Four Seasons Minor Realm was mostly complete, he would choose their four minor realms to begin the second round of expansion.

As for the specific implementation of this work, Zhang Yu had also inspected their Grotto-Heavens multiple times and discussed the plans with each of the four separately.

Especially the minor realm managed by Kuang Zhiqian; because of the existence of an ancestor’s corpse, Zhang Yu had inspected it many times. Unfortunately, he had not found an opportunity to liberate the Immortal corpse and could only temporarily give up.

At this very moment, following the message Zhang Yu sent out, the four also successively sent back replies.

Ban Jinchen: “Alright, Dao Monarch Zhang, I have been ready on my end for a long time.”

Lie Jinghong: “To closely follow the Immortal Emperor and to promote the sect’s legal reform, I am bound by duty.”

Kuang Zhiqian: “Dao Monarch Zhang, do you dare to make a bet with me on which of our four minor realms… your Law Edict will expand the fastest in?”

Bu Yingshu: “You know my minor realm’s password, just operate it yourself when the time comes.”

Having finished the discussion, Zhang Yu nodded slightly, but his gaze unconsciously shifted to another avatar.

“Big Brother Tai…”

Zhang Yu knew that Tai Yuebai, who possessed a Rank 7 position and had also broken through to Tribulation Transcendence… his Law Edict Pilot, just like Lie Jinghong’s, was also a minor realm located on the 16th layer.

And looking at the other party’s avatar, Zhang Yu also recalled the conversation… Immortal Slayer had with Tai Yuebai not long ago.

“Big Brother Tai.” Zhang Yu (Immortal Slayer) glanced at Tai Yuebai’s chest and asked, “I want to prioritize expanding the Law Edict True Domain into your minor realm over there…”

Tai Yuebai didn’t look at Zhang Yu, only saying, “Zhang Yu, you know I’ve never approved of your methods.”

“As for the expansion of your Law Edict True Domain, I have no right to interfere, but I won’t cooperate either.”

Immortal Slayer said, “Big Brother Tai, didn’t you say you wanted to change Kunxu with me? What I’m doing right now is changing Kunxu…”

Tai Yuebai said coldly, “Zhang Yu, you climbed up from the First Layer, you should understand… under Kunxu’s system, temporary minor changes are useless.”

“The so-called Law Edict Expiration Date is nothing but a knife. This knife cannot change Kunxu; what it ultimately changes is your and the Immortal Emperor’s lives.”

“It gives you a stepping stone to rise, and allows the Immortal Emperor to better control the sect.”

Recalling Tai Yuebai’s resolute words, Zhang Yu understood that it would probably be impossible to get the other party’s cooperation. “I can only delay his minor realm.”

---

Meanwhile, in the Former Days Graveyard, Zhao Tianxing’s consciousness was crossing the Spirit Realm, investigating a Soul Cultivator impersonation case.

“A lower realm Soul Cultivator impersonating an upper realm Soul Cultivator?”

“This kind of thing… how is that any different from using a Junior College Student to impersonate an undergraduate, or using the lower realm’s Extreme Tiger to impersonate the upper realm’s Extreme Dragon?”

But when Zhao Tianxing saw the Soul Cultivator in front of him, shock swept through his mind.

“T… Teacher Wang Hai?”

“How did you die and end up here at the sect?”

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