Chapter 859
When the superiors have a certain preference, the inferiors will follow suit even more f
Chapter 859 When the superiors have a certain preference, the inferiors will follow suit even more fervently.
Thoughts flashed through his mind. Yu Xinghan looked at the camera in front of him and said to the countless cultivators watching the live stream, "Among the viewers watching the live stream, there may already be many who know my identity, but there are certainly many who do not know me, so let me introduce myself."
"I am Yu Xinghan, born on the first floor of Kunxu, and graduated from the Civil Engineering Department of Wanfa University."
"Some viewers may remember that two years ago, I was one of the first cultivators to pass the Lower Realm Sect Examination and join a sect."
As Yu Xinghan introduced his identity, countless viewers watching the live stream suddenly felt closer to him.
There seemed to be a faint sense of familiarity about this clan affairs officer who had passed the exam in the lower realm.
Many viewers also recalled the person who last broke through the Heavenly Gate during the live interview of the first Lower Realm Examination two years ago.
Yu Xinghan continued, "Now, I am already a Level 2 sect affairs officer of the Underworld Department of the Old Graveyard of the Myriad Laws Sect, a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Realm, in charge of personnel work. I should be promoted to Level 3 next year."
……
Lan Ling looked at Yu Xinghan in the live stream, a proud expression on his face, and said to his subordinates beside him, "This is my fellow townsman. We used to be from Songyang City."
"We were in the same group chat back in college."
Upon hearing this, the subordinate asked in surprise, "Then, boss, can you contact him now? Please beg him to recruit you into the sect!"
Lan Ling laughed and said, "So you college students just like to make assumptions all the time. What kind of place is a sect? Do you think it's that easy to get recruited?"
"Sigh, do you even know what the Exam of the Supreme Realm is? There's really no point in talking to you college students. That's the Exam of the Supreme Realm! It's the ultimate exam that anyone from level 1 to level 10 can participate in. Even students from the top ten schools would fight tooth and nail to get into the Exam of the Supreme Realm. Even someone as strong as our Thirty-Six Colonels would just be cannon fodder if they participated."
The subordinate nodded, thinking to himself, "What colonel? When he took the exam, he was no different from us college graduates."
Lanling's eyes flashed as he saw the long-dormant group chat of his fellow villagers now frantically refreshing its messages.
Lanling sent a message to Zhou Chechen: "Old Zhou, did you see that? It hasn't been that long. I didn't expect Yu Xinghan to have reached the Nascent Soul stage. The sect is indeed the path to immortality."
"The Nascent Soul realm..." Lan Ling said with a look of longing, "Even the top ten students need at least a doctoral degree to have a chance to get a Nascent Soul certificate. We have no hope of reaching the Nascent Soul realm in this lifetime."
Zhou Chechen said, "Not only is he a Nascent Soul cultivator, but he can also be in charge of personnel work. This means he's already a junior leader in the sect, right? It shows that he's doing quite well in the sect."
"Alas, Kao Zong... with our colonel's qualifications, it's impossible."
At this moment, Zhou Chechen and Lan Ling were filled with regret. Why couldn't they have worked harder in high school? Why did they only get into such a lowly colonel position?
"If I had worked harder in high school, forcing my parents to sell all their possessions and mortgage everything to focus on the college entrance exam, I might have gotten into one of the top ten schools, and now I would have a chance to enter a sect..."
……
At the same time, Yu Xinghan continued in the live broadcast room: "In our Department of Underworld Affairs, besides me, there is also Ye Xingli, who was admitted in the previous year and also comes from Wanfa University. She and I are both Level 2 Religious Affairs Officers, and she should be promoted to Level 3 next year."
"And our Minister of the Underworld Department is Zhang Yu, who has become a Level 4 Clan Affairs Officer and broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm. He is also the legal heir of the Immortal Inheritance."
"Our department employs many outsourced cultivators and soul cultivators from the lower realms, and the Nascent Soul principals from the Ten Schools are also currently working here."
"It can be said that our Department of Underworld Products is currently the department that welcomes cultivators from the lower realms the most among all the major sects."
Yu Xinghan said sincerely, "The reason I came to the lower realm this time is to recruit a group of outstanding talents for the Underworld Department through the sect examination."
"In the future, every year during the annual examinations, the Department of Underworld Property, as a friendly department to the lower realm, will continue to recruit outstanding talents from various schools in the lower realm. Those who are not from the School of Law are also welcome to apply. We do not ask about background, only ability."
Yu Xinghan knew that compared to those popular positions, there wouldn't be many applicants for the Underworld Department this year, and he had originally planned to recruit mainly his own people from the Myriad Laws Sect this year.
However, with the annual admissions and promotions, more and more elite students from the top ten schools will inevitably apply to the Department of Underworld Products.
Yu Xinghan thought to himself, "Maybe in the future, we can recruit the top few from each of the top ten leagues and the most outstanding talents from the top ten universities."
"These elites, who are looked down upon by the ten major sects and regarded as lowly animals by the sect affairs officers, will shine in our hands."
……
While watching the live stream, Bei Wufeng exclaimed, "Has Ye Xingli already reached the Nascent Soul stage? And Zhang... Lord Zhang is already a Deity Transformation cultivator?"
But the next moment he frowned: "All schools are recruiting? Does that mean even the Heavenly Demon University is recruiting? How can the dignified Myriad Laws Sect recruit demon descendants into its ranks?"
In Bei Wufeng's mind, it would be a desecration to let the demons enter such a sacred place as the Wanfa Sect.
Beside him, Yan Qianji, who had also returned to the lower realm to prepare for the clan examination, said, "There shouldn't be any plans to recruit demon descendants at the moment."
"Moreover, Minister Zhang is not just a Nascent Soul cultivator. He has earned the appreciation of Ascension Realm cultivators within the sect and has made outstanding contributions. He will definitely become a Void Refining Dao Lord in the future!"
"I'm going to take the exam for the Department of Underworld Property this time. I just hope to have the opportunity to work under Minister Zhang in the future."
“Even if the minister asked me to have his children… I would be willing to have six children in one pregnancy.”
"Of course, having six children in one pregnancy is not my limit, but I'm afraid that any more would delay the work assigned to me by the minister."
Upon hearing these words, Bei Wufeng and Jin Jun were deeply shaken, and they felt the overwhelming aura of loyalty emanating from Yan Qianji, as well as a strong sense of patriarchal spirit.
"Is this the result of a year's worth of outsourced cultivation by the sect?" Bei Wufeng sighed inwardly. "Yan Qianji is completely transformed compared to the past. I'm afraid I can't beat him in this sect exam."
As a former top student who ranked among the top three in the weapon crafting department alongside Ye Xingli, Bei Wufeng felt at this moment that the gap between himself and Ye Xingli and Yan Qianji was widening.
Jin Jun, standing to the side, said earnestly, "Senior Brother Yan Qianji, if you succeed in the sect examination this time, could you take me with you? I'll do the outsourcing for you."
Yan Qianji said, "I will follow Yu Zhenjun's instructions in this regard. The outsourcing projects we bring this time will likely be mainly from the civil engineering department."
Upon hearing this, Jin Jun exclaimed in surprise, "Civil Engineering Department?"
At this moment, Jin Jun felt that this was simply an absurd turn of events. When did the Earth and Wood system become the priority over the Weapon Forging system?
Yan Qianji said, "Minister Zhang's development zone is undergoing a major construction boom and is in dire need of civil engineering talent. Moreover, the rising leader who admires Minister Zhang is one of the founders of the Civil Engineering Department at our Wanfa University..."
Upon hearing the words "leadership at the Ascension Stage," Jin Jun's expression turned serious. He said, "I'll go download some tutorial videos for the Civil Engineering Department right now. Weapon crafting is related to both Civil and Engineering; good weapon crafting is no less valuable than that of Civil Engineering!"
……
"He's reached the Nascent Soul stage?"
In the overtime classroom, Hou Shuntian, who called himself the Devouring Heaven True Lord during the university war but has now changed his name, muttered, "Zhang Yu... has reached the Divine Transformation stage?"
Although they were working overtime, normal expenses were still covered by debt, which allowed Hou Shuntian to see the live stream.
Even if he didn't know the quality of the Underworld Production Department within the sect, or the status of its head, Hou Shuntian still knew the weight of a Nascent Soul Divine Lord.
After all, this is the top force among the ten schools, enough to determine the situation of the university, and the existence of countless people's cultivation and life.
Now, Zhang Yu has not only achieved the Nascent Soul stage, but has even hired ten Nascent Soul masters from different schools to work for him, which is an unattainable level in Hou Shuntian's eyes.
Hou Shuntian lamented, "Going through the imperial examination is the best way out!"
If he could be reborn and go back to the past, Hou Shuntian would only say to himself: "If I'm reborn, I'll prepare well for the clan exam!"
But now Hou Shuntian knows that he probably will never be qualified to take the imperial examination again in this lifetime.
"Alas, the evil god has misled me! The Heavenly Immortal has misled me! I should have been the sect affairs officer!"
Beside him, the True Monarch of the College, who had already reverted to his original name Li Qiuxian, watched the live stream and exclaimed in disbelief, "Impossible! Zhang Yu has only been there for two years, how could he have reached the Nascent Soul stage? And how could he represent the sect to recruit people from the top ten universities?"
"This is not how sects operate at all! There must be something wrong here."
Li Qiuxian turned his head and saw that Taihao Zhenjun, who was cultivating the "Mysterious Scripture of Shifting Ancestors," had already knelt down in front of the live broadcast room. He couldn't help but shout, "Why are you kneeling? Do you think kneeling to him through the live broadcast room will do you any good?"
Taihao Zhenjun said, "It has some effect on strengthening my Dao heart."
Just as the two were talking, a warning message about reduced work efficiency appeared in their eyes, which startled them so much that they immediately stopped talking and focused on working overtime.
……
Just as Yu Xinghan was stirring up trouble in the lower realm.
Inside the old graveyard, Zhang Yu was leading the former president of the Heavenly Demon University, Lord Nie Lian, and the former president of the Vajra University, Lord Zhi Pan, through the Immortal Cave Heaven, introducing them to the production line and the laboratory not far away.
After Ye Xingli took charge of the finances of the Underworld Department when he went to the lower realm to participate in the examination, Zhang Yu knew that he would need to find some new people to help with the production line and laboratory in his Immortal Cave.
After all, even if Teacher Magnet returns from his examination, he will become a formal sect official. The Department of Underworld Production has plenty of work to do and cannot stay in his cave forever to help manage the laboratory and production line.
"After all, Teacher Magnet has the Dao Seed of [The Creation of Heaven and Earth], and Senior Sister Ye Xingli also has [Spiritual Essence and Artifact Heart]. They will definitely be the main persons in charge of the production line and laboratory in the future, but they will mainly be responsible for design and high-precision work. Some simple tasks will definitely be handed over to others."
"Speaking of which, if it weren't for Teacher Magnet going down to take the exam, I should have been able to upgrade [The Exploitation of the Works of Nature] to level 3 with her in the last two months."
Just then, a wave of pressure swept over, startling the magical power within the bodies of the nearby Evil Lotus God and Wise Rock God.
A black dragon, like a bolt of black lightning, suddenly prostrated itself in front of Zhang Yu. It was the Void Refining Corpse he had subdued earlier—the Celestial Orbit.
Celestial Orbit is one of the two Void Refining Corpse parts that Zhang Yu had left after the Collapse of the Heavens. The other remaining Void Refining Corpse part is the Forging Furnace, which exists as the power source within the Immortal Cave.
Feeling the pressure of the Void Refinement Corpse, the Divine Lord of Evil Lotus and the Divine Lord of Wisdom were shocked: "Although Minister Zhang is only at the Nascent Soul stage, he already has the abilities of the Void Refinement level. No wonder he can hold the position of Vice President with the rank of Level 4 Sect Affairs Officer."
After glancing at the Celestial Orbit constellation in front of him, Zhang Yu said to Yin Quan Shenjun, "Have all the damage from mending the heavens been repaired? Thank you for your hard work, Yin Quan Shenjun."
Although the Celestial Orbit constellation did not become a living pillar for Zhang Yu to use in mending the sky, it did provide Zhang Yu with the power to suppress all things at that time, and thus suffered some damage.
Yin Quan Shenjun quickly said, "It's just some simple repairs. If this corpse has any major malfunction, I can't fix it."
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "This kind of corpse-part technique... might be unique to the giant corpse senior. I can ask him about it when I have the chance."
Just as Zhang Yu was assigning tasks to the various schools' Nascent Soul cultivators, his chief soul cultivator, Zhao Tianxing, presented him with the latest intelligence documents.
Zhao Tianxing: "Minister, the blockade against the Heavenly Demon, White Bone, and Netherworld factions has officially begun." Zhang Yu glanced at the intelligence report and replied: "Understood."
The intelligence was simple: the three sects of Heavenly Demon, White Bone, and Netherworld had formed an alliance in the Old Graveyard, collectively known as the Old Alliance.
Although this Old Alliance is mainly composed of state-owned enterprises, when you include the upstream and downstream companies that are influenced and controlled by them, they can control more than 9% of the factories and companies related to soul cultivation in the entire Old Graveyard.
Their methods for blocking Zhang Yu's side were simple and brutal.
“All the soul cultivators who cooperate with us…” Zhang Yu frowned as he looked at the contents of the document.
……
"From now on, all soul cultivators who cooperate with Zhang Yu's side are forbidden from being transparent! No overtime allowed! No eating excrement allowed! And no living in places like Yin artifacts!"
In the spirit world, similar warnings appeared in every corner of the old graveyard. Although they were not issued in the form of official documents, they reached the ears of every soul cultivator through various channels.
The soul cultivators were all shocked upon hearing this warning.
"Can't eat shit? Once you're blacklisted, you can't go to charities to collect shit? Wouldn't that mean we'd starve to death?!"
"We can't even live in our genitals? Where are we going to get the money to live somewhere else!"
"Why can't it be transparent? Making it visible is so expensive!"
Xiao Yunhe's subordinates shouted, "This is Vice President Zhang's requirement. Vice President Zhang said that he doesn't like transparency. All the cultivators under his command, whether dead or alive, must have 0% transparency. Soul cultivators must also reveal themselves on their own."
"Don't blame me for not telling you, if you cooperate with him, you have to spend money to be visible every day and you're not allowed to enter transparent mode."
……
As Zhang Yu looked at the contents of the document, a wave of doubts arose in his mind. Although he had been studying the soul cultivation industry for some time, there were still many things he did not understand about the soul cultivation ecosystem of the Old Graveyard, especially the most basic soul cultivation ecosystem.
So he asked, "What do you mean by 'not allowed to eat excrement'? Can soul cultivators... also eat excrement?"
Zhao Tianxing appeared in front of Zhang Yu. He had already studied the relevant information in advance, and when he heard Zhang Yu's question, he immediately explained: "How can a soul cultivator eat real shit? This refers to the underground mana emissions."
"Most of these emissions come from factories in old cemeteries, many of which are polluting."
"The cost of pollution control is relatively high, so many companies treat it as charity, distributing these magical emissions for free to some soul cultivators. It's much more cost-effective than doing environmental protection."
Zhang Yu then asked, "What does it mean that you can't have your genitals inside?"
Zhao Tianxing said, "There were too many soul cultivators in the old graveyard. All the places that could be used for storage became more and more expensive. Later, the soul cultivators who could not afford the storage fees set their sights on some cultivators and borrowed the cultivators' physical remains and magical artifacts, such as Yin artifacts or eye remains."
Damn it... Zhang Yu thought to himself, "They're treating the Yin artifacts like a shared apartment for soul cultivators, aren't they?"
Seeing that the "No Transparency Allowed" sign actually contained his own request, Zhang Yu almost laughed in anger: "When did I ask all soul cultivators to pay to become visible?"
"Zhao Tianxing, who asked for this?"
Is that you?
Zhang Yu understood that soul cultivators, being poor and consistently ignored, generally wouldn't expend resources to perform projections or similar operations to make people specifically see them in the material world.
Zhao Tianxing was startled upon hearing this and immediately knelt down, honestly saying, "Minister, I... I didn't say anything like that. I just asked everyone to reduce the transparency of the crowd in their field of vision and to see others more clearly."
“We thought that you, Minister, did not like high transparency and preferred to see everyone clearly so that it would be convenient for mutual supervision and cooperation.”
"Therefore, departments at all levels have responded one after another, learning from your style, Minister... and spontaneously reducing transparency, keeping everyone in sight, and not letting others be transparent."
"I didn't ask the soul cultivators to pay for their own manifestation, and none of the soul cultivators under my command have paid for their manifestation."
"I myself climbed up from the bottom of the soul cultivation path, why would I force them to spend money recklessly?"
As he spoke, Zhao Tianxing quickly sent his meeting video to Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu glanced at the video and nodded slightly.
He knew that many sect affairs officers... would increase the transparency of outsourced cultivators in their eyes, even to the point that they couldn't see the other party's existence.
Zhao Tianxing did indeed only ask his subordinates to reduce transparency and not ignore others.
Seeing the fear and panic in Zhao Tianxing's eyes, Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback, feeling that the distance between him and the other party seemed to be growing at this moment.
Zhang Yu sighed and said, "Go and find out who is making soul cultivators pay to reveal themselves."
A moment later, a list appeared in front of Zhang Yu.
Looking at the names on the list, Zhan Xian said, "When the superiors have certain preferences, those below will follow suit to an extreme. Zhang Yu, this is not just their problem, but also ours. Getting close to the leaders, flattering the leaders, pleasing the leaders, currying favor with the leaders, and climbing the social ladder to get promoted—these are all habits and voluntary choices of the people of Kunxu."
"But don't you understand what this kind of 'voluntary' means in Kunxu? It's the kind of 'voluntary' that makes people voluntarily jump off buildings, voluntarily go bankrupt, and voluntarily pay to work overtime."
"As our influence grows, our words and actions can have a huge impact. As long as we continue to climb the ladder, we must learn to properly control our influence."
The wild ox said calmly, "The sun... must learn to restrain its light and heat in order to nourish all things, instead of destroying the world."
Kao Zong's clone sneered: "Soul cultivators? A bunch of losers from the bottom of Kunxu, making wild guesses about what we mean. They brought it on themselves by losing immortal coins. What does it have to do with us?"
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yu looked at Zhao Tianxing in front of him and said, "Alright, tell all the soul cultivators not to pay to reveal themselves."
"Compile a list of all the expenses incurred by soul cultivators during this period, and determine which department was responsible. Let them use their own funds to pay for the soul cultivators' expenses."
Upon hearing this, a look of surprise flashed across Zhao Tianxing's face.
Zhang Yu said calmly, "The income of soul cultivators is already pitifully small. This amount of immortal coins is just a drop in the ocean for us, but for those low-level soul cultivators, it may be a life-or-death crisis, a crisis that could lead to the melting of their minds."
"Moreover, if we let public opinion fester, it will also affect our soul cultivation business in the future, making soul cultivators worry that they will have to pay to become visible if they want to work for us."
"It would be better to use money to suppress the matter as soon as possible."
Of course, Zhang Yu knew that his greatest confidence in saying these words came from the fact that he was now in charge of multiple departments of the Management Committee, and was also the head of the Underworld Department, the Ghost House Company, and the Joint Venture Company, in charge of the funds and personnel of each department.
The total cost for the soul cultivators to manifest these past few days was no more than a few thousand immortal coins.
Spending several thousand immortal coins to reduce the impact on future soul cultivation business is a piece of cake for Zhang Yu at this moment.
Zhan Xian sighed, "Money and power are the foundation. The more you control, the stronger your ability to utilize Kunxu's resources. To change Kunxu, you must have enough funds and power."
"If our joint venture can control 10% or even 20% of the Old Graveyard Soul Cultivation market in the future, then we will have countless funds and power, enough to exert influence over the entire Small World."
With a thought, Zhang Yu relayed his instructions to his subordinates at all levels, and then continued to look at the intelligence sent by Zhao Tianxing.
Through this intelligence, Zhang Yu seemed to have also seen the living conditions of countless low-level soul cultivators in the old graveyard.
Invisible and formless... ignored by most cultivators, sometimes parasitizing a part of a cultivator's body, and sometimes surviving by excreting mana pollutants underground.
Zhanxian said, "The advanced immortal technology completely distinguishes people of different levels, and the poor soul cultivators at the bottom of the old graveyard, regardless of their behavior patterns, existence, eating habits, and dwellings, can be said to have become another species."
“Even though they both live in the old graveyard, compared to the high-level cultivators, it’s like they live in two separate worlds.”
Wild Ox added, "This is the alienation of individual life under the tyranny of immortal technology, resulting in species division due to differences in the degree of control over technology and resources."
Upon hearing this, Fuki thought to herself, "Damn it... these two guys... they're clearly just clones that have merged Zhang Yu's and the dead's memories, yet they can spout off a whole bunch of nonsense, one phrase after another."
Fu Ji reminded him, "Zhang Yu, ignore all this nonsense. Our goal is to dominate the soul cultivation market. Everything else is irrelevant to us."
Looking at the contents of the intelligence report, Zhang Yu continued, "This kind of censorship can only be spread covertly, right? What's the official statement?"
Zhao Tianxing said, "If you forbid transparency, they'll say it's in response to your call. If you forbid eating feces, they'll say it's out of concern for the spread of pollution. If you forbid storing personal devices like genitalia, the reason could be concerns about work data leaks and information security."
"In short, the real standard is whether or not they have cooperated with us, but they won't say it directly on the surface. Instead, they will give various reasons for compliance and legality."
Zhang Yu continued to review the intelligence. Lower-level soul cultivators were targeted by restrictions on their basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. For middle and upper-level soul cultivators, the approach was simpler: targets were placed on their various jobs and salaries.
……
In the spirit realm, Xie Lanyin's soul cultivators wandered back and forth, spreading rumors and gossip.
"All soul cultivators who cooperate with Zhang Yu's side should forget about finding any work in the Old Alliance in the future."
"Don't say I didn't warn you. Anyone who dares to cooperate over there can forget about getting the wages that the Old Alliance is holding back."
"Once you're blacklisted, you'll never be able to find a job at the old cemetery again."
……
Looking at the intelligence report, Zhang Yu discovered that in addition to targeting soul cultivators, the report also targeted various upstream and downstream enterprises, using various means to prevent them from cooperating with their side.
"Wow, that's really comprehensive." Zhang Yu exclaimed. "If I hadn't learned about the ban from Su Lingyou beforehand, and if I had started the soul cultivation business directly with my own money, I'm afraid I would have lost money every day from now on."
Fuki said, "Hehe, let them make a fuss. We'll start our counterattack once we've completed the technical preparations and got the business processes running smoothly!"
Just then, Zhang Yu's gaze shifted slightly as a message from Bu Yingshu appeared before his eyes.
Bu Yingshu: Xiaoyu, did you receive the test invitation? Did they send you the test manual?
Bu Yingshu: I received it, please reply to me as soon as possible, let's refine it together.
A moment later, Zhang Yu received a test invitation from the Martial Arts Pavilion, which he quickly accepted.
Soon enough, a strategic-level immortal cultivation technique that was still undergoing testing appeared before Zhang Yu.
I didn't finish this update until almost midnight tonight. I won't have enough time to write tomorrow's chapters, but I'll try to finish it earlier tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)