Chapter 993: Golden Age of Open Source, Who Shall Encounter the Miraculous Book of the Immortal Dao?

After Zhang Yu joined the sect, although he had risen rapidly in rank — a meteoric promotion in the eyes of others — and had experienced several major events, repeatedly getting dragged into high-level conflicts, overall… the amount of time he had spent cultivating in the sect was still too short.

Moreover, because most of Zhang Yu’s energy had been focused within the Myriad Laws Sect, his understanding of other sects was even more limited.

Now, hearing Liu Qianxian’s explanation, Zhang Yu frowned slightly and said, “The lower-tier cultivators open-source to the upper-tier cultivators? In that case, wouldn’t lower-tier cultivators have no secrets whatsoever before upper-tier cultivators? All their creativity, ideas, and technology… would be ruthlessly exploited by the upper-tier cultivators, wouldn’t they?”

“If the fruits of researching Immortal Dao technology can be plucked so easily, wouldn’t that cause a mess where no one is willing to do research anymore?”

Liu Qianxian explained, “Indeed, the development of Immortal Dao technology in the Immortal Armaments Bureau… is primarily based on plagiarism. Very few cultivators are willing to engage in research and development.”

“However, this naturally brings benefits as well. Most of the Immortal Dao technologies that the Sect Staff of the Immortal Armaments Bureau wish to learn are provided free of charge within the sect. Even for Immortal Dao technologies of other sects, local pirated copies are often available here, allowing one to study them at an extremely low price.”

“There are even entire industrial chains dedicated to replicating our Myriad Laws Sect, the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect, and others. The zones where they operate are called Little Myriad Laws Sect, Little Heavenly Demon Sect, Little Heavenly Sword Sect, and so on…”

A flash of disgust crossed Liu Qianxian’s eyes as well. “Relying on making Immortal Dao technology cheap, the cultivators here make rapid progress in learning and iterating technologies, but lacking research and development capabilities, they will never make it to the grand stage after all.”

“The cultivators of the Immortal Armaments Bureau can only rely on copying each other, endlessly engaging in cutthroat competition over production capacity and prices. They will never have an Immortal Research ecosystem like our Myriad Laws Sect’s, and they will never become a powerful sect like ours.”

At this point, Liu Qianxian warned once more, “Profound Monarch Zhang, in the past, some cultivators from other sects came to the Immortal Armaments Bureau and, out of petty greed, purchased pirated cultivation arts here. In the end, they were sued by the corporations after returning to their sects and had to pay hefty compensations.”

“Furthermore, the chaotic mess of advertisements here might very well come bundled with pirated technologies.”

“Profound Monarch, you have a vast and bright future ahead of you. You must never lose the greater picture for petty gains, so please be sure to carefully vet any information entering your possession here.”

This was one of the reasons why Liu Qianxian hated the Immortal Armaments Bureau. An excessive amount of pirated information roamed throughout the Bureau’s Spirit Realm, multiplying endlessly like viruses. If one wasn’t careful, they would get contaminated, which would subsequently trigger all sorts of lawsuits and troubles upon returning to their sect.

Liu Qianxian said with resentment, “Last time, I just casually searched for some medicinal pills in the Spirit Realm here. As it turned out, the first thousand or so search results were all pirated pills! When I finally found a genuine pill, the link redirected to an external sect, and they even refused to ship it here because that genuine manufacturer had blacklisted this entire place…”

In Liu Qianxian’s view, Zhang Yu needed to be even more cautious in this regard. After all, Zhang Yu’s identity was far too conspicuous. The moment he became tainted by pirated goods, the pirated merchants of the Immortal Armaments Bureau would probably turn around and sell intelligence about him without hesitation.

“Never trust the cultivators of the Immortal Armaments Bureau. The cultivators here have no morals whatsoever.”

Hearing Liu Qianxian — a Tribulation Transcendence Cultivator from the Kunxu World — actually criticizing others for lacking morals right in front of him, Zhang Yu could not help but marvel in his heart at just how terrible the reputation of the Immortal Armaments Bureau was.

Meanwhile, as the two communicated rapidly via their minds, Liu Qianxian looked at Zhang Yu before her, an unusual glint flashing through her eyes that she immediately suppressed.

Ever since she met Zhang Yu today, she had continuously felt that his temperament seemed to have undergone a massive change, making her instinctively want to draw closer to him. As their time together lengthened, this sensation only grew stronger, gradually making her realize that the corners of her mouth were already was wet.

“It must be the Cultivation Notes…” Liu Qianxian thought to herself. “Damn it, this guy really used public resources for personal gain and used it on himself.”

As the person who had personally negotiated with the company and secured Cultivation Notes, Liu Qianxian naturally knew the book’s effects.

In fact, she was the one who had brought the book back and personally overseen all kinds of related experiments to test the functions of Cultivation Notes.

“What Cultivation Notes brings… is an attraction akin to the imagery of the Great Dao, stimulating a cultivator’s inner yearning for the Immortal Dao.”

“This is an affection of Dao reason, far more severe than mere physiological affection… Driven by the Immortal Dao Aspiration, it’s an affection that makes you want to swallow the other person whole in one bite.”

Liu Qianxian felt her mental fluctuations and the flow rate of her magic power slightly accelerating. She guessed it was because she had left the Dharma Realm and lacked the boost of Dharma Drugs.

She thought to herself, “If a low-tier cultivator possessed such an ability, they would definitely be eaten alive by the strong. But with Zhang Yu’s strength and background… he doesn’t need to worry about that. Instead, people would be willing to spend money to get close to him, connect with him, and taste him, so he could probably make quite a bit of money that way, right?”

Thinking of this, Liu Qianxian rejoiced inwardly, “Fortunately, I know the true nature of Zhang Yu’s allure, so I’ll definitely never waste money on him.”

To Liu Qianxian, who knew the inside story, the attraction emanating from Zhang Yu was an illusion. It was not that he truly had some Immortal Dao essence in him; it was just like a counterfeit medicine without any real effect.

Right at that moment, Zhang Yu’s gaze shifted as he suddenly looked toward a certain direction in the Immortal Armaments Bureau.

“The Feather Book just vibrated within me…”

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “According to the intelligence provided by the Heavenly Surveillance Hall, this is where the new book is about to be born. Could the vibration of the Feather Book… be because a new book is about to emerge nearby?”

---

Meanwhile, Bai Gusheng — a Rank 10 Sect Staff from the White Bone Cult, a veteran cultivator in the Ascension Realm, and a favored candidate in the next Ascension Selection — was observing a sect office district below that belonged to the Immortal Armaments Bureau.

The movements, data, and information on various cultivators flashed continuously before his eyes.

“So many cultivators from the Immortal Armaments Bureau… Are they all here to seize the book?”

“Hmph, with the Immortal Emperors making their moves, more and more cultivators are indeed learning about the existence of the Books. And since the Immortal Armaments Bureau is a place of open sharing, the information leaked out even faster.”

“If things continue like this, it won’t be long before the information about the Books is completely made public.”

Bai Gusheng thought to himself, “And the ultimate goal behind such a massive upheaval is most likely that the higher-ups want to completely gather the Four Books… which have been scattered for so long.”

“Whoever manages to gather the Four Books will almost certainly ascend and become an Immortal in the next era. The Ten Immortal Emperors have likely already reached a consensus on this point as well.”

At the same time, a rumor surfaced in Bai Gusheng’s mind.

“When the Four Books gather, the Immortal Ancestor shall appear.”

“What on earth does this phrase actually mean?”

Bai Gusheng mused inwardly, “Any secret we are allowed to know, any intelligence we are able to grasp, only means that the Immortal Emperors haven’t actively suppressed it. Could the gradual spread of such a prophecy, ‘when the Four Books gather, the Immortal Ancestor shall appear,’ be an intentional dissemination by the Immortal Emperors? And who is the target of this dissemination?”

Amid his contemplation, Bai Gusheng nevertheless suppressed these stray thoughts.

“How could I so easily see through the schemes of the Immortal Emperors?”

For now, the most important thing for Bai Gusheng was still to collect more of the Books.

“The more Books one possesses, the more abilities and intelligence regarding the Books one can master, and the greater the chance of gathering all four Books in the final contest to become the sole Feathered Ascension’ master.”

Bai Gusheng knew this was not merely a matter of whether he wanted to or not; with the gradual push from the Ten Immortal Emperors, this was an irreversible event.

“Even if I don’t target others, others will target me.”

“Fortunately, among the holders of the four Books, I currently hold an absolute advantage.”

Looking down at the office district of the Immortal Armaments Bureau beneath his feet and observing the countless messages left behind by numerous cultivators, Bai Gusheng thought to himself, “A bunch of clueless, headless flies, still believing they can stumble upon a fortuitous encounter through sheer luck?”

“These low-tier cultivators have no idea that the competition for this mid-grade Book is already the prologue to the next Ascension Selection.”

“The competition for the slots to achieve immortality has already begun from this very moment.”

“And the vast majority of cultivators participating in it are merely wasting their time.”

Information regarding the holders of the Feather Book, Flight Book, and Ascension Book surfaced in his mind.

Bai Gusheng evaluated inwardly, “The Book-Wielders of the Flight Book and Ascension Book are indeed formidable, but they are tied down by book-collecting affairs within their respective sects. This time, they can only spare a tiny fraction of their power and resources to take part in this contest.”

“As for the rest — myself, and Zhang Yu, the wielder of the Feather Book…”

Visual data of Zhang Yu’s arrival at the Immortal Armaments Bureau surfaced before Bai Gusheng’s eyes as he thought to himself, “I am able to commit more power to compete for the Book here because I am strong enough — strong enough to have suppressed most of the dissent within my sect, leaving me untethered.”

“Meanwhile, Zhang Yu can participate because he is too weak, incapable of stirring up any real storm in his sect. He had no choice but to leave the many Books within his sect aside and try his luck at snatching a new one first.”

---

Between the towering buildings of the Immortal Armaments Bureau, the streets appeared exceptionally empty, even desolate.

Not only were there virtually no commercial establishments, but there was not even a single projected advertisement on the roads, clean to the point that Zhang Yu found it eerie.

“Advertisements in the Immortal Armaments Bureau are mainly concentrated in the virtual world of the Spirit Realm, across platforms for various Immortal Dao and financial services, rather than in the physical material world.”

Through a rapid exchange with Liu Qianxian, Zhang Yu learned that this was because the vast majority of cultivators in the Immortal Armaments Bureau had their physical bodies integrated into the sect itself. Normally plugged into their workstations, they remained physically connected at all times.

With their physical bodies rarely moving, the cultivators’ consciousnesses mostly roamed within the Spirit Realm, leaving them largely indifferent to the physical world.

Thus, this resulted in the physical world of the entire Immortal Armaments Bureau looking both empty and desolate for the vast majority of the time.

Yet at this very moment, quite a few cultivators were rushing back and forth along the empty streets, as if searching for something.

Zhang Yu also noticed that aside from cultivators of the Immortal Armaments Bureau, there were astonishingly cultivators from other sects among them as well.

Before anyone realized it, more and more projections of Immortal Armaments Bureau cultivators began appearing in the sky above this place.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “It seems a lot of intel about the Book has leaked out by now. Have all the major sects sent people to seize the new Book?”

“I wonder what the acquisition mechanism for this mid-grade Book is…”

According to the records of the Heavenly Surveillance Hall, after every mid-grade Book appeared for the first time, it would initiate its own master selection process. Each time, the method and criteria for choosing a master were completely different, requiring participants to adapt on the fly.

Right at that moment, lines of text surfaced before Zhang Yu and Liu Qianxian.

“What is the peak at the end of the Immortal Dao? Who shall encounter the Miraculous Book of the Immortal Dao?”

Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. “It’s here?! Has the Book begun choosing its master?”

The very next moment, however, another line of text appeared: “Borrowing is the peak! Emulating others is the gain! Borrowing and plagiarism are the true essence of the Immortal Dao. Welcome to Extreme Dragon Service, helping tailor and replicate the lives of the heavenly chosens for you.”

Zhang Yu said, “It’s probably an advertisement placed in advance by Extreme Dragon Group, right? They really don’t let a single bit of traffic go to waste…”

Liu Qianxian warned, “No, it’s an advertisement attack!”

“Profound Monarch Zhang, absolutely do not click on it! This Extreme Dragon Group’s Open Source Seven Steps to Poverty once drove a Spirit Transformation cultivator into being riddled with pirated goods, embroiled in lawsuits, and utterly bankrupt in just seven clicks.”

Liu Qianxian looked around with utmost vigilance and said, “These cultivators from the Immortal Armaments Bureau don’t follow the rules. They want to eliminate a batch of people before the new Book chooses its master.”

The next moment, a screen of light lit up in the sky, and a book slowly unfurled in the sky.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Is it here?”

Words surfaced on the book: “The Immortal Network flourishes, and Study Qi soars to the skies. Conditions have been met, and the New Book-Master Selection Process is now commencing…”

“Do you wish to participate?”

Looking at the option that appeared before them, Liu Qianxian hurriedly warned, “Be careful, it’s still an advertisement!”

At the same time, on the surrounding streets, in the Spirit Realm Projections, and even inside the office buildings, cultivators cried out in terror from time to time: “No! I don’t want to buy insurance books!”

Over the next few minutes, various advertisements appeared one after another in turns.

Liu Qianxian kept reminding him, “The better-looking and more attractive an advertisement is, the more potent the Debt Poison’s toxicity, because more capital was invested into it. The true book selection process is silent and soundless, and it doesn’t require a cultivator’s consent.”

Just as Liu Qianxian said, when the true New Book-Master Selection Process began, everything took place in total silence.

Including Zhang Yu, all cultivators within a ten-kilometer radius at this moment — whether physically present in their physical bodies or descending as projections — suddenly had a series of information flood into their minds, detailing the rules of this New Book-Master Selection Process.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Equip a security guard from the Immortal Armaments Bureau with ten cultivation arts, and then simulate the final achievements he can attain?”

To Zhang Yu, it felt like a simulator game: pick ten cultivation arts from a pool to equip on a character, and then see whose character ends up doing better.

“Each person has three attempts, and the final score will be the highest result among them.”

“Whoever achieves the highest score will become the new book’s master.”

Just as Zhang Yu was analyzing the rules, a low shout rang out from nearby.

“Person Control Talisman! Go!”

Streaks of gold medallions shot out violently, scattering in the blink of an eye before the physical bodies or projections of countless cultivators on the scene.

Zhang Yu looked at the contents and thought to himself, “An hourly wage of 10,000 Immortal Coins, including the Five Insurances and Housing Provident Fund…”

Zhang Yu immediately understood. This was a badge imbued with a part-time job paying an hourly wage of 10,000 Immortal Coins. As long as one accepted this badge, they would fall under someone else’s control.

“Someone wants to use this Person Control Talisman to control the various outsourced workers, Soul Cultivators, and other lower-tier cultivators present?”

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “If these lower-tier cultivators also participate in the New Book-Master Selection Process, controlling them could influence the outcome. To think someone is already resorting to underhanded tactics before the master selection has even properly begun.”

The Sect Examination Clone snorted coldly. “The user of this Person Control Talisman has far too weak a cultivation. A mere 10,000 hourly wage can’t suppress us. That’s just one Fu Ji monthly salary per hour — who are they looking down on?”

Just then, the Person Control Talisman formed from a badge was crushed to pieces.

A Void Refinement Cultivator shouted, “You think a mere 10,000 hourly wage power can suppress everyone here? You’re far too naive! I, the King of Ten Thousand Resignations, am the first to refuse!”

A cultivator from the Immortal Armaments Bureau witnessed this and immediately exclaimed in surprise, “It’s the King of Ten Thousand Resignations? Is that Senior King of Ten Thousand Resignations, who job-hopped across countless companies in the other sects years ago, stole the core technologies of numerous corporations, and ultimately escaped back to the Immortal Armaments Bureau completely unscathed?!”

Another cultivator chimed in to support him: “Well done! A mere 10,000 in hourly pay couldn’t possibly suppress Senior King of Ten Thousand Resignations. Instead, he took the opportunity to demand more, and he might even get a raise next.”

Watching this scene, a glimmer of understanding flashed through Zhang Yu’s mind: “The cultivators of the Immortal Armaments Bureau… are all local cultivators. They never believed they could secure this fortuitous encounter for themselves, so coming here… was just their way of selling the opportunity for a good price.”

Just as the Person Control Talismans and the numerous cultivators were locked in a stalemate, another vast and terrifying pressure descended from the sky.

Feeling this pressure, King of Ten Thousand Resignations thought to himself in alarm, “Not good! It’s Source Saint!” ¹

A low shout resonated from within the Spirit Realm.

“Law Edict! Open Source User !”

Sensing the fluctuations of this Law Edict, numerous cultivators from the Immortal Armaments Bureau cried out in despair. Sorrow washed over them as they could only watch helplessly as the Immortal Coins they were about to receive… completely evaporated.

What hourly pay? What raise? What price for the opportunity of a fortuitous encounter? Under this Open Source User Law Edict, everything became entirely free.

Every Immortal Armaments cultivator present was forced to provide all the information in their possession without compensation, including all information exchanges that occurred when they participated in the New Book Master Selection.

Watching the scene unfold, Bai Gusheng also frowned slightly. “Source Saint… the Book-Wielder of the Immortal Armaments Bureau. As expected, a local cultivator like him wouldn’t miss out on this.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu looked at the power of the Law Edict halted before him, knowing in his heart that it was their status as Foreign Sect Emissaries that shielded them.

Although he could no longer mobilize the power of Law Edicts after arriving in a foreign sect, his status as an Foreign Sect Emissary allowed him to disregard the vast majority of the foreign sect’s Law Edicts.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Law Edicts ultimately have layer upon layer of restrictions. Only by becoming a Dao Lineage can something be a true, objective rule.”

At the same time, a majestic male voice echoed from the Spirit Realm — it was none other than Source Saint, who had just brought down the Law Edict.

His voice resonated like clashing metal and stone, and his words carried the weight of imperial decrees, seeking to dominate everything present.

“Now that a new Book has descended into the world, since it has landed within my Immortal Armaments Bureau, it is the asset of our sect. All sect cultivators must cooperate with me fully to successfully retrieve the Book for the sect.”

“Anyone who disobeys will be blacklisted by the sect from now on and banned from using all sect facilities for the next century.”

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