Chapter 945: Introducing Special Talents from the Lower Realm
Ever since Zhang Yu moved to the Inner Enclosure Grotto-Heaven on the 16th layer, Zhao Tianxing, as his subordinate Chief Soul Cultivator, had been continuously traversing the Spirit Realm.
His will traveled back and forth between the Former Days Graveyard and the Inner Enclosure Grotto-Heaven, conducting on-site monitoring of the various situations in the Netherworld Assets Department and the Soul Cultivator Company for Zhang Yu.
This ensured that even after Zhang Yu left the Former Days Graveyard, he still had a clear grasp of the actual situation on the ground.
And relying on the Void Refinement quotas given by Zhang Yu, people including Zhao Tianxing, Mo Tianyi, Che Yufei, Hu Yuntao, and the Ying Clan patriarchs had all obtained the qualification to freely break through their cultivation realms all the way to Void Refinement.
However, even for a Soul Cultivator, despite abandoning the cultivation of magic power and physical strength and saving countless hours of grinding on cultivation arts, breaking through to the Void Refinement Realm was by no means something that could be achieved in a short time.
Zhao Tianxing, who received the most support from Zhang Yu, had only recently broken through to the Spirit Transformation Realm, and the other Soul Cultivators under him were mostly at the Nascent Soul and Golden Core Realms.
Fearing that their progress was too slow and that Zhang Yu might replace their Void Refinement quotas, they all cultivated diligently every day in addition to their work. They hoped to break through to the Void Refinement Realm as soon as possible, holding tightly onto this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But even Nascent Soul and Golden Core Soul Cultivators were already sky-high figures to Wang Hai.
To Wang Hai, the former gold-medal teacher of Songyang High School, whether he was a physical education teacher or the principal at Songyang High School on the First Layer, the highest cultivation realm of cultivators he could interact with in his daily work was only the Foundation Establishment stage.
Nascent Soul and Golden Core were already unattainable for him, and a Spirit Transformation cultivator was even more like a mythological existence.
Therefore, upon hearing that a Spirit Transformation soul cultivator had descended, the pixelated figure Wang Hai projected immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing profusely.
Lacking the Spirit Realm voice transmission service, he could only quickly send lines of small text begging for mercy: “Spirit Transformation Lord, please spare my life! This lowly one hails from the First Layer and just arrived at the sect. I don’t know the rules of the sect, nor do I know anything about a lower realm soul cultivator impersonating an upper realm soul cultivator. I definitely did not intentionally violate the sect’s laws…”
At this moment, Wang Hai was shivering inwardly, terrified that the great figure before him would resurrect him with a single thought, causing him to fall into debt and be unable to find a job.
Although it hadn’t been long since he arrived at the sect, Wang Hai had already heard many things. For example, for a Qi Refinement Soul Cultivator like him, the big shots in the sect could casually force him to take out a loan to resurrect.
And if he lost his status as a Soul Cultivator, with his identity as a living Qi Refinement person, he wouldn’t be able to find a job in the sect at all. After all, the lowest-end jobs for the living had long been snatched up by artifact spirits and Soul Cultivators.
When that time came, not only would his resurrection have been in vain, but the interest on the loan would also compound, and he would ultimately have to become a Soul Cultivator all over again while burdened with debt.
Only in the state of a Soul Cultivator could he exist like a mere spare part, finding a bottom-tier job in the sect to barely manage to stay dead.
But the next moment, when Wang Hai heard the person opposite him call him Teacher Wang and ask how he had managed to die and end up in the sect, Wang Hai’s heart trembled, and he cautiously observed the other party.
However, the lack of a high-definition visual service meant Wang Hai could only observe a blur of pixels.
Only the transmission of text information allowed him to clearly read the other party’s name, cultivation realm, position, and other details…
“Zhao Tianxing?”
Earlier, when Wang Hai saw this name, he had assumed it was just someone with the same name and surname. But now, hearing the other party’s voice transmission, a trace of disbelief couldn’t help but surface in his heart.
Zhao Tianxing sensed the Soul Cultivator shivering incessantly in front of him, feeling a wave of emotion in his heart.
Originally, when he received the news that a lower realm Soul Cultivator was impersonating an upper realm Soul Cultivator, he thought it was the doing of some junior college student from the lower realm.
This wouldn’t have been a surprise to him. After all, as far as he knew, today’s junior college students in the lower realm… were becoming more and more different from the junior college students of their time.
“Ever since the circulation of Soul Cultivators between the upper and lower realms was opened up, it’s now full of ungrateful ghosts who desperately enter a sect for the sake of opportunism, going from undergraduates to taking the vocational college exams.”
“They’re not like us junior college students from back in the day, who only took the vocational college exams because we had no other way out.”
But he never expected the situation to be much more serious and unimaginable than he had anticipated.
“A First Layer Soul Cultivator impersonating an upper realm Soul Cultivator? Not even a junior college student would do something so despicable.”
Zhao Tianxing could already imagine that once this matter spread, it would inevitably cause a massive uproar.
Thus, with a jolt of his will, the numerous Soul Cultivators under his command scattered in all directions, beginning to lock down the news.
At the same time, Zhao Tianxing looked at Wang Hai in front of him and said, “Teacher Wang, do you still remember me? I’m Zhao Tianxing, who was in the same grade as Zhang Yu back then…”
Looking at the other party’s pixelated figure, Zhao Tianxing’s heart suddenly stirred, and he bought some basic Spirit Realm Services for him.
The next instant, Wang Hai said in shock, “Zhao… Divine Monarch Zhao, you!”
At this moment, endless regret surged in Wang Hai’s heart. “Even Zhao Tianxing can reach Spirit Transformation? The sect really is full of opportunities everywhere… I died too late! I died too late!”
Zhao Tianxing asked, “Teacher Wang, how did you end up dying and coming to the sect?”
Wang Hai immediately explained, “The project for the circulation of Soul Cultivators between the two realms has now spread to the First Layer…”
Through Wang Hai’s description, Zhao Tianxing finally realized that the current First Layer had undergone earth-shattering changes.
The news of the circulation of Soul Cultivators between the two realms, and the fact that one could die to enter the sect, had caused a massive sensation in the First Layer as soon as it spread.
There were sayings like, “Better to be a Sect Ghost than a First Layer Person.”
Or, “Testing into the sect is worse than dying into the sect.”
Or, “Dying early is the only way out for young people.”
Wang Hai lamented, “If free suicides weren’t banned, there probably wouldn’t be many living people left in the entire First Layer right now.”
In Wang Hai’s description, many people no longer even referred to death as “death”, but rather as ascension. Dying into the sect was ascending into the sect.
It was a step to heaven that surpassed the College Entrance Exam.
“Later, the leaders of the First Layer joined forces and held the first Death Tournament, selecting only the most outstanding Soul Cultivators to be able to die and enter the sect. This finally stopped a lot of trash from dying recklessly…”
Listening to Wang Hai’s lament, Zhao Tianxing seemed to envision the countless rich people, geniuses, and academic overachievers in the First Layer… each one giving their all, competing madly, just to snatch an opportunity to die and enter the sect, becoming a mere cog in the machine and serving as a tablecloth for the sect’s cultivators.
And all of this was solely for the chance to get better opportunities to cultivate in the legendary sects, the chance to break their own limits, and the chance to obtain higher-level Realm Certificates…
But looking at Wang Hai in front of him, Zhao Tianxing felt a wave of strangeness. “Teacher Wang, you… also competed to get here?”
In Zhao Tianxing’s estimation, if the entire First Layer was competing to die, it shouldn’t have been the turn of Wang Hai right in front of him… unless there was a massive quota.
Wang Hai said, “I originally couldn’t grab a spot, but after they found out I was Zhang Yu’s Teacher, they classified me as a special talent and recruited me into the sect.”
Zhao Tianxing nodded slightly, flipping through Wang Hai’s file. When he saw “Gold-Medal High School Teacher” filled in the special talent row, he felt it was even more bizarre.
“Does the sect need… a gold-medal high school teacher?”
Meanwhile, Wang Hai asked cautiously, “Lord… Lord Zhang is also in the sect, right? I wonder what rank and cultivation realm he is at now?”
Zhao Tianxing said, “Minister Zhang is already a Rank Six Void Refinement Cultivator, and the Myriad Laws Divine Sword of our Myriad Laws Sect.”
At the same time, on the other side, Zhang Yu also quickly received the report from Zhao Tianxing.
But after seeing the contents of the report, Zhang Yu let out a sigh in his heart: “The First Layer… has ultimately been eroded after all.”
Immortal Slayer said, “Although you tried your best to prevent the First Layer from being changed back then, even going so far as to engage in a death match with Wang Yin, as the situation changes, the policies of the sects and the will of the upper-tier cultivators only need to slightly ripple into the First Layer to naturally trigger earth-shattering changes.”
The Sect Examination Clone snorted coldly, “Eroding the First Layer? That is giving them an opportunity, helping them elevate their layer. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have a chance to enter the sects in ten lifetimes. Now that they’ve managed to die and get in, they should be thanking the sects.”
“Heh, bringing in a gold-medal high school teacher? What’s the difference between this and bringing in a flying pancake expert?”
Right at this moment, Zhao Tianxing sent another message: “Minister, it’s not just Wang Hai, there are more First Layer and Second Layer people that you know… all of them have entered the sect.”
Looking at the message sent by the other party, Zhang Yu slightly raised his eyebrows.
He saw that apart from Wang Hai, there was also his former high school martial dao teacher, Lei Jun…
There were also Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling, who were similarly from Songyang High School and later admitted into university…
There was also Lian Tianji from Purple Cloud High School, who was later admitted into Joyful Union University.
There was also Ye Lingxiao from the First Layer’s Immortal Capital, who also later got into the Ten Greats, as well as Zhang Yu’s former classmates Ji Yuanshu and Ping Han…
Looking at these familiar names, avatars, and information one by one, a trace of cold light flashed in Zhang Yu’s eyes.
Fu Ji said, “Having so many people connected to us die and come up here all at once, no matter how you look at it, it isn’t a coincidence.”
Immortal Slayer also agreed, “It must be someone within the sect acting in secret. We just don’t know what they are actually trying to do.”
The Sect Examination Clone said, “Who cares what they want to do? Just smash them into reincarnation in one breath and end it once and for all, letting the other party’s efforts go to waste.
“Zhang Yu! We should take this opportunity to sever our connection with the lower realm and display our sect nature!”
Fu Ji thought to herself that the Sect Examination Clone’s method was indeed good. Anyway, this group of people added together wasn’t worth much. Having Zhang Yu dispose of them like garbage was the best approach. It would also cut off some of the ties with the lower realm and win over the goodwill of many sect cultivators.
But unfortunately…
Fu Ji thought inwardly, “Sigh, Zhang Yu just won’t make this optimal choice.”
Zhang Yu thought for a moment and replied to Zhao Tianxing, “Gather the people temporarily, give them a little work, and monitor them 24 hours a day…”
After finishing the arrangements, Zhang Yu refocused his attention on the Law Edict Pilot in the 16th layer, since this was currently his most important task.
Although Zhang Yu’s Law Edict Expiration Date received widespread support and the Thought Tide Amplification grew day by day, any reform or change could never win the support of absolutely everyone.
The same was true for the changes Zhang Yu brought.
It could be said that ever since Zhang Yu began expanding the scope of his Law Edict, causing more and more companies and employees to break away from the regulations of the “Four-Hour Workday” and “Paid Overtime” voices of both support and opposition had emerged.
First of all, for employees who originally had heavy workloads and were not highly capable at work, occasionally needing to pay overtime fees, they naturally fully supported no longer having to pay for overtime and being able to work for free every day until their tasks were completed.
However… for the cultivators who were originally highly capable at work and could finish their daily tasks within four hours, having to work four more hours every day compared to before meant a reduction in their time for part-time jobs and cultivation, which naturally made them feel dissatisfied.
It was just that all along, the opponents who were capable enough at work made up a smaller proportion and had not formed a wave of protest; instead, they were directly drowned out by the voices of the supporters.
But as Zhang Yu’s Law Edict True Domain continued to expand, successively spreading across the minor realms of five people — Si Shian, Ban Jinchen, Lie Jinghong, Kuang Zhiqian, and Bu Yingshu — the proportion of opponents, although still not high, saw a sharp rise in absolute numbers.
Especially in the 16th layer, there were many cultivators with strong working capabilities who had been keeping a close eye on Zhang Yu’s movements.
Upon realizing that the speed of Zhang Yu’s expansion was constantly increasing and drawing ever closer to them, they successively expressed their concerns, lack of support, and even opposition within the Spirit Realm and the Dharma Realm.
The appearance of an opposition immediately caught the attention of the supporters.
Someone from the supporters cursed, “So many cultivators in the sect have suffered under these two beastly laws for a long time, what are you even opposing?”
Someone from the opposition retorted, “What the hell does that have to do with us?”
“You trash can’t even finish your work in four hours a day and have to pay overtime fees every day, so of course you’re willing to see this change. But for those of us with strong working capabilities, we could originally get off work in four hours, and now it’s dragged out to eight hours? This is forcibly increasing our working hours; it is stealing our time!”
Someone among the supporters argued back, “With more time, if you’re capable, then just do more! For the sect! What’s wrong with doing a little more work for the company?”
Someone in the opposition said angrily, “Idiots! Then why are you unwilling to pay more overtime fees for the sect and the company?”
“How is that the same?”
It could be said that as Zhang Yu’s Law Edict True Domain continued to expand, more and more cultivators were drawn in. The arguments between the supporters and the opposition became increasingly severe, and the heat of the debate skyrocketed.
Gradually… as more and more companies adapted to the new situation, new changes appeared.
Someone complained, “There is more and more work every day. It’s simply impossible to finish it within eight hours, so I have to work overtime.”
Someone consoled them, “At least we don’t have to pay money anymore.”
Someone calculated, “The extra time I spend working extra every day now, compared to paying overtime fees before… is still worth it.”
Countless pieces of information surfaced before Venerable Serpent Lust. His consciousness spanned across the Spirit Realm and Dharma Realm, constantly observing the changing thoughts of the one trillion living beings within the 16th layer at every moment.
And Venerable Serpent Lust was the first to notice the subtle changes within.
“Heh… the situation is about to reverse.”
“Like working unpaid overtime? Then work to your heart’s content.”
“These foolish practitioners of lower cultivation never understood that the Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime weren’t just protecting the enterprises, but also protecting them, at least leaving them with a little time of their own every day.”
In Venerable Serpent Lust’s perception, without the restrictions of these two great Law Edicts, the enterprises were like monsters freed from their restraints, beginning to constantly increase the workload of their employees and endlessly devouring their time.
Initially, when the employees faced the sudden increase to an 8-hour workday, their workloads felt more relaxed.
But soon, the employees discovered that 8 hours was gradually no longer enough to finish their work, and they needed to work overtime to 10 hours… 12 hours… 14 hours…
Venerable Serpent Lust thought to himself, “Without restraints, the enterprises will devour every minute and every second of your time.”
At this moment, Venerable Serpent Lust seemed to see one lower-tier cultivator after another being tagged with employee badges, assigned tasks by the Spirit Realm and Dharma Realm, and then being manipulated like puppets under the hands of the leaders.
In the densely packed working hour statistics, Venerable Serpent Lust saw the time and lifespan of the lower-tier cultivators being swallowed all the way through the Spirit Realm and Dharma Realm, becoming burning firewood that propelled the enterprise continuously forward.
If one enterprise increased its shifts to 14 hours, another would increase them to 16 hours…
A leader said, “Do you see the office building across from us? If they don’t get off work, we don’t get off work!”
A superior said, “Why can they work overtime up to 18 hours? We aren’t even charging you money for working overtime, and you still can’t do it? Did I assign too few tasks?”
Some companies began promoting new policies: “I have already locked the company’s front doors. To save everyone commuting time, the company suggests that starting today, everyone’s physical body should not leave the premises.”
Watching these accelerating changes, Venerable Serpent Lust sighed with emotion, “What a prosperous scene of a blazing fire fueled by boiling oil. The lower-tier cultivators in the sect indeed ought to properly grind as well.”
He chuckled softly in his heart, seemingly already envisioning these bundles of burning firewood… continuously shooting out sparks. It only needed a single catalyst… to ignite Zhang Yu at the source as well.
A few days later, Venerable Serpent Lust’s gaze suddenly narrowed: “It’s here!”
With a mere thought, the countless pieces of information he had been browsing silently faded away, leaving only a single video that frantically enlarged and played on a loop in front of him.
The content of this video was exactly a cultivator beginning their days of working 24 hours and doing overtime.
Venerable Serpent Lust understood that this was precisely the opportunity he had been waiting for.
“Temporary worker offspring! Come out for me!”
Accompanied by a circulation of Magic flow within his body, Venerable Serpent Lust opened his mouth and spat, breeding thousands of snake monsters.
These snake monsters inherited a trace of his vital essence and a breath of magic power, possessing a certain level of spiritual intelligence and cultivation. They could serve as temporary workers under his command to complete various tasks for him.
Once their magic power was exhausted, these little snake monsters would die one by one and be recycled by Venerable Serpent Lust.
Their specific survival time was exactly the duration Venerable Serpent Lust needed to use the temporary workers each time.
This was precisely the Temporary Worker Daoist Art that many monsterfolk upper-tier cultivators within the Sect were highly adept at — born to be used immediately, dying once used up. It required no salary costs, only the most basic breeding costs.
The small snakes spat out by Venerable Serpent Control were seen logging into the Spirit Realm one by one, already beginning to push that video about the 24-hour workday.
At the same time, Venerable Serpent Lust flicked his tail again, and countless serpentine Soul Cultivators in the Spirit Realm swarmed out.
These Soul Cultivators were all personally bred and slaughtered by Venerable Serpent Lust; each and every one of them owed him a massive debt, serving as his fiercely loyal army within the Spirit Realm.
“Boys, get this video on the trending list for me!”
Boom!
In an instant, the video’s popularity climbed steadily, quickly catching the attention of many cultivators within the Myriad Laws Sect, especially those in the 16th layer.
“Working 24 hours, doesn’t this just mean working to death without end? They’re treating us like lower realm natives.”
“Sigh, thinking about it now… a 4-hour workday, plus paying for overtime, might not be without its merits.”
“More and more companies are following suit. At this rate… won’t it mean that wherever Zhang Yu reforms next, they’ll have to work 24 hours?”
The sudden appearance of this video instantly sparked heated discussions within the Myriad Laws Sect.
Immediately after, several Tribulation Transcendence cultivators, including Zhu Yan, spoke out, criticizing Zhang Yu’s reform methods as being too crude and stating they would lead to serious consequences.
Zhu Yan: “The current method of freezing the Four-Hour Workday and Paid Overtime on the 16th layer is too simple and direct. It fails to seek truth from facts, adapt to local conditions, and consider the varying situations of different companies.”
“Once the average working hours increase, the demand for personnel in major companies will be greatly reduced.”
“Everyone, a large-scale Unemployment Tide is about to strike. Please be prepared.”
“But the Unemployment Tide is only the beginning. With more people out of work, consumption will decline, the revenue of major companies will also decrease, and everything will enter a vicious cycle…”
“Legal reform is right, but Zhang Yu is too hasty, and his changes are too radical. The side effects it brings are likely to far outweigh the positive ones. He should slow down and think it through carefully…”
Zhang Yu’s gaze swept over the streams of messages, and Immortal Slayer spoke in his mind, “These guys don’t dare to criticize the legal reform, so they criticize us for not doing it right and not reforming well. From the looks of it… their true motive is just to delay.”
“But what on earth… is their purpose for delaying?”
The Sect Examination Clone said, “Alarmism! Causing turmoil in the sect! They are harming the sect’s interests. Every minute and every second of this loss is the Immortal Emperor’s money! Are we still not going to take action?”
Immortal Slayer said, “The time isn’t right yet. Wait a bit longer.”
A few days later, as if in response to this criticism, several companies quickly announced massive layoffs, stating that they only needed a small number of employees working 24 hours a day to maintain their original operations.
Suddenly, countless cultivators across the entire 16th layer were in a state of panic, all worried about the Unemployment Tide triggered by the freezing of the laws.
Just as Zhang Yu was pondering, more news about him suddenly emerged.
“Beware of the illegal operations of lower realm Soul Cultivators infiltrating the sect.”
“How could lower realm high school classmates become Spirit Transformation Soul Cultivators? Are lower realm high school teachers already working in the sect?”
“Why has a case of a lower realm Soul Cultivator posing as an upper realm Soul Cultivator not yet been concluded?”
The moment he saw these reports, Zhang Yu could already imagine how the public opinion would change.
He glanced at the comments under the news reports, and sure enough, they were all criticisms from various cultivators directed at him.
“Bringing high school classmates and high school teachers from the lower realm to work in the sect, how is this any different from designating one’s own Yang Artifact as a police baton?!”
“This beastly superior caused an unemployment tide while letting lower realm natives come and steal our jobs. Can this Zhang Beast really do a good job of legal reform?”
In the blink of an eye, public opinion began to rapidly change, and more and more cultivators started criticizing Zhang Yu’s actions.
Venerable Serpent Lust watched the rapid shift in public opinion and gave a slight nod. “In the areas not yet occupied by Zhang Yu’s True Domain, more and more people are starting to worry about 24-hour overtime and a wave of unemployment, which means they are starting to oppose the freezing of the Law Edicts.”
“This will greatly delay the speed at which Zhang Yu expands his Law Edict True Domain.”
“But this is still not enough… It’s time to unleash the next move.”
And thinking of the power, destructiveness, and danger of this move, even he felt a burst of heart-pounding fear.