No Money to Cultivate Immortality? - Chapter 799 (Patreon)

Chapter 799: Bu Yingshu’s Imprint

Take Zhang Yu with her?

Hearing Bu Yingshu say that, the many cultivators present all felt their hearts jolt again.

“She’s doing it for real?”

Deputy Pavilion Master Yang Kaitai stared hard at Bu Yingshu—and at Zhang Yu behind her.

He’d originally thought that no matter how much Bu Yingshu looked after Zhang Yu, once the special task force wrapped up and she left the Imperial Law Pavilion, she would gradually cut off contact with Zhang Yu.

But he hadn’t expected that using him inside the task force still wasn’t enough—she even wanted to take him out with her?

Yang Kaitai thought to himself, utterly baffled: “Why? What is so exceptional about this Zhang Yu that Dao Monarch Bu wants to snatch this lower-realm man away?”

As a supporter of the innate Dao lineage, Yang Kaitai naturally found this impossible to accept.

If Bu Yingshu’s earlier actions were like seeing a stray dog by the roadside and casually feeding it a few times, then what she was doing now was adopting the stray as an immortal clan’s house dog.

To Yang Kaitai, this was downright a violation of public morals and proper order.

If the immortal clan all acted like this—randomly adopting stray dogs—then every stray dog would start dreaming of cozying up to the immortal clan and taking shortcuts. Who would still work seriously? Who would still get promoted properly? What order would be left in the sect? Wouldn’t it all turn into a stinking mess?

“Messing around with a lower cultivator is one thing, but you’re really taking him home?”

Thinking this, Yang Kaitai couldn’t help urging again, “Dao Monarch Bu, please think twice.”

Bu Yingshu glared at Yang Kaitai and shot back without yielding an inch. “I’ve already decided. I’m taking him, no matter what.”

“To tell you the truth, this time I came to the Imperial Law Pavilion on official business. Besides auditing ‘Blood-Tide Essence Saint Visualization Qi,’ I had another goal…”

Under everyone’s astonished gazes, Bu Yingshu said slowly, “That was to find an outstanding talent within the Imperial Law Pavilion—someone proficient in martial dao audits—and take him as my disciple.”

“Zhang Yu’s performance these past few months—I’ve watched it all. I’m very satisfied.”

As she spoke, under the crowd’s envious and jealous looks, Bu Yingshu ruthlessly ruffled Zhang Yu’s hair—and paid the fine.

“So I’ve decided to take him to the Martial Performance Pavilion and give him a broader platform, so he can fully display his talent.”

Saying all this, Bu Yingshu’s intent was to stamp a deep imprint onto Zhang Yu, making it clear to everyone that Zhang Yu now belonged to her.

That way, it would also deter schemers—so that during the coming gap, after she left the Imperial Law Pavilion but before she could transfer Zhang Yu out, nothing unpleasant would happen.

Hearing her words, Chenxing Xuan’s heart lurched. “So Dao Monarch Bu came to the Imperial Law Pavilion this time… to pick up a lower cultivator and take him away as a package deal?”

“Dao Monarch Bu, why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

Chenxing Xuan seethed with regret, like a stray dog that had missed its adopter, staring longingly toward Bu Yingshu while hurriedly sending his resume over.

At the same time, he remembered the results of his past inquiries to Tianwen Xing.

“Every time it’s ‘can’t say this,’ ‘can’t say that.’ The moment it involves the immortal clan, it’s ‘violating relevant laws,’ so you can’t say anything…”

He thought darkly, “So that’s how it is. All the shortcuts to cultivation are hidden inside the illegal content, and Tianwen Xing can’t dig any of it out at all!”

On the other side, Yu Qingrang felt a surge of bitter regret. “I can be your dog too!”

Realizing she’d just missed an opportunity to be a dog for the immortal clan, she regretted even more her earlier decision to withdraw from the test. And watching Zhang Yu get money shoved at him by Bu Yingshu, Yu Qingrang grew even more jealous, wishing she could take his place.

“Why?” Off to the side, Lu Hengzhang almost wanted to stand up and shout: “Zhang Yu is one of ours at the Imperial Law Pavilion! Don’t think you can just take him because you’re immortal clan! If you’ve got the guts, take me too!”

But Lu Hengzhang knew that even if he yelled, it would be useless. Dao Monarch Bu’s prejudice against him ran too deep—there was no way she’d take him.

And besides…

Lu Hengzhang looked at Yang Kaitai, whose expression had already returned to calm, and at the Imperial Law Pavilion’s Pavilion Master, who from start to finish had remained as still as an ancient well, showing not the slightest ripple of emotion.

Lu Hengzhang thought, “Will the Pavilion Master and the others really go along with Dao Monarch Bu’s wishes? Probably not. This might get tangled up in conflict between different Dao lineages. When that happens, Zhang Yu might get ground into mince.”

Even if it was only a possibility, Lu Hengzhang still desperately hoped his malicious guess would come true.

Meanwhile, Zheng Meng stared blankly at Dao Monarch Bu forcing the Imperial Law Pavilion to hand over Zhang Yu, her heart filled with a jumble of complicated feelings.

Bu Yingshu, watching the private messages popping up nonstop in front of her, said impatiently, “Alright, stop spamming me. I’m only taking Zhang Yu. Don’t even think about the rest of you.”

With that, she turned to the Imperial Law Pavilion’s Pavilion Master and said, “Pavilion Master Si, when will you upload ‘Blood-Tide Essence Saint Visualization Qi’ to the Dao Repository? Up there, they’re very concerned about this. The sooner we do it, the better—let’s finish it quickly.”

So after both sides discussed it, that very day Bu Yingshu took people to the Dao-Seeking Hall, opened the Dao Repository connection, and performed the final confirmation and submission.

And as ‘Blood-Tide Essence Saint Visualization Qi’ passed the Dao Repository’s final review, this special audit work for a sect-suppressing, immortal-sect-grade cultivation method was at last completely finished.

Bu Yingshu let out a light breath, feeling as though a heavy burden had finally been set down. All these days of effort hadn’t been wasted.

Then she looked at Zhang Yu beside her. “Xiao Yu, next I’m going back to the Martial Performance Pavilion. You stay here at the Imperial Law Pavilion and wait for my message.”

“Don’t worry.” Bu Yingshu smiled proudly. “With this achievement of mine, if I want to pull you over, no one in the clan will dare say much.”

“Once you officially become the Martial Dao Group Leader and rise to Job Grade 3, I’ll transfer you over. Then I’ll push you up one more grade—straight to Job Grade 4.”

Hearing that, Zhang Yu’s heart shook violently.

Because he understood perfectly: within the Myriad Laws Sect, Job Grade 4 and Job Grade 3 were separated by a qualitative gulf.

Without an opportunity, without someone to promote you, you could work a hundred years as a martial dao group leader and still never get a chance to rise.

And Job Grade 4—besides expanding your allowed activity range to Kunxu Layer 14—also meant you could obtain a Divine Transformation certificate, allowing you to break through to the Divine Transformation realm.

Thinking of that, Zhang Yu couldn’t help sighing inwardly. “A Divine Transformation certificate… Teacher Divine Lord Magneto and the others spent so many years struggling down in the lower realm, and in the end they only got it by riding the chaos of war.”

“Over the years, who knows how many Nascent Soul True Lords in the lower realm have been brutally stuck at this step.”

“I never imagined that after just a little over a year in the sect, I’d already be close to breaking through to Divine Transformation.”

All of it made Zhang Yu feel even more strongly just how many opportunities the sect had—and how heavy the immortal clan’s privileges truly were.

At that moment, Zhanxian in Zhang Yu’s mind said, “Once you reach Job Grade 4 and break through to the Divine Transformation realm, you’ll be able to go to Layer 14 and collect the inheritance your master left behind.”

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. Of course he cared deeply about the inheritance Fuxian Tian had left.

Because by Zhanxian’s account, that inheritance didn’t only contain Fuxian Tian’s legacy, but also something Ying Xintian had left behind—something said to be a major help to sect cultivators.

“Dao-ge, what did you leave behind, exactly?”

And thinking of Dao Qiankun and Ying Xintian, Zhang Yu remembered the agreement Ying Xintian had set before leaving with Kunxu’s Layer 6.

“The time Dao-ge named for the agreement should already be here, right? But from how things look… whether it’s Dao-ge himself or Kunxu’s original Layer 6, neither seems to have returned.”

“Did Dao-ge’s plan fail? Did he learn about Kunxu’s current situation and give up on returning? Or did something else happen…”

As Zhang Yu pondered, he also searched the Law Realm for news and the latest updates.

With the task force work finished, standing outside the Dao-Seeking Hall, Zhang Yu could now smoothly connect to the external Law Realm.

But after searching, Zhang Yu still couldn’t find any information related to Kunxu Layer 6.

Just then, Bu Yingshu suddenly leaned in, pressed a hand on Zhang Yu’s head, and said, “Come on, let’s take a photo together.”

Looking at the two-person selfie Zhang Yu took, Bu Yingshu nodded with satisfaction, then said, “Post it to your Moments right now. Pin it. That way everyone will know what your relationship with me is.”

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “This is like a dog peeing to mark its territory. But Bu Yingshu’s mark really does have a deterrent effect. Fine—call it a tiger peeing to mark territory.”

Bu Yingshu flipped through Zhang Yu’s Moments, and only after seeing the photo pinned did she nod in satisfaction. “With this pinned photo of you with me holding the fort, you’ve got yourself an extra protective charm at the Imperial Law Pavilion.”

“Alright, I’m leaving, Xiao Yu.”

“Remember—you're mine. If I find out that while I’m gone, you’ve been eating from my bowl and secretly selling me out…”

She kicked Zhang Yu in the butt, then gave him a fierce warning to prevent him from leaking the secret between them. Only then did her figure flash—space itself folding as she vanished, eager to hurry home and brag about her performance this time.

Watching Bu Yingshu disappear, Zhang Yu let out a quiet breath. “Finally. Without this woman around, I can relax a bit.”

…

Inside the Martial Dao Group One office.

True Lord Wuxiang was working earnestly.

Though he’d lost to Zhang Yu in competition last year and failed to test into the sect, he benefited from the normalization of the sect exam—and with his deep accumulation, he passed this year and entered the sect.

And just like before, his choice was the same: the Imperial Law Pavilion.

“The Imperial Law Pavilion! I’m here!”

“Zhang Yu, even if I’m a year behind you, the sect is my turf. We’ll compete again inside the Imperial Law Pavilion—watch how I suppress you completely.”

Before entering, True Lord Wuxiang could practically see the scene in his mind: his comeback, overtaking Zhang Yu from behind, getting promoted faster, even becoming Zhang Yu’s superior.

“When that happens, what should I say to him?”

But that little fantasy shattered the moment True Lord Wuxiang formally entered the Imperial Law Pavilion.

“What? Zhang Yu is already a Job Grade 2 sect affairs officer?”

“What? He’s now the acting leader of Martial Dao Group One—my boss? And this March he’s officially becoming a Job Grade 3 sect affairs officer?”

After hearing all that, True Lord Wuxiang was dazed for almost half a day, his mind in a haze. “In a little over a year, he went from Job Grade 1 to Job Grade 3?”

“Are promotions in the sect that easy now?”

Very soon, True Lord Wuxiang learned promotions were absolutely not easy—now even the basic work had become brutally harder.

Especially the martial dao group’s monthly performance targets. The workload far exceeded the past, forcing True Lord Wuxiang to pay for overtime, leaving him almost unable to save money each month.

And when True Lord Wuxiang learned that all of it stemmed from last year—when Zhang Yu, by himself, had pushed the entire martial dao group into raising their monthly workload—his regret only deepened.

“Why did I even apply to the Imperial Law Pavilion?”

Thankfully, news came later: Zhang Yu had offended higher-ups in the task force, and in the future he might find it hard to take a single step within the Imperial Law Pavilion.

That rumor made True Lord Wuxiang’s spirit lift, and he wrote reports with extra vigor every day.

Then, on this day, as True Lord Wuxiang worked, he noticed the work group chat exploding with messages.

He casually glanced, and saw everyone was talking about Zhang Yu.

True Lord Wuxiang originally thought Zhang Yu had run into trouble again—maybe getting cursed out by higher-ups, maybe being demoted, maybe getting shoved onto a cold bench.

But after reading with eager excitement, he realized everyone was discussing a pinned photo in Zhang Yu’s Moments.

“Who’s this woman?”

“Why did Group Leader Zhang pin this photo?”

Some were confused. But Shen Qingyun—a seasoned Job Grade 2 sect affairs officer, once Group One’s top auditor—somehow got hold of insider gossip and immediately explained, “You don’t know?”

“That’s the Martial Performance Pavilion’s Deputy Pavilion Master, authentic Myriad Laws Immortal Clan—Bu Yingshu, Dao Monarch Bu.”

Hearing that, everyone in Martial Dao Group One felt a jolt, and listened patiently as Shen Qingyun elaborated.

In the sect, news about benefactors, higher-ups, and backgrounds spread the fastest.

After all, everyone wanted to know who they could offend and who they couldn’t; whose connections mattered and whose didn’t…

“You really don’t know? Outside, it’s already gone completely wild!”

Shen Qingyun said with a worshipful face, “While working in the task force, Group Leader Zhang had a chance encounter with Dao Monarch Bu and earned her appreciation and favor.”

“I heard that to back Group Leader Zhang, Dao Monarch Bu not only beat Deputy Minister Lu Hengzhang several times, she even confronted Deputy Pavilion Master Yang Kaitai face-to-face, saying she would take Group Leader Zhang to the Martial Performance Pavilion to develop.”

“Once Group Leader Zhang becomes a Job Grade 3 sect affairs officer in March, he’ll probably be promoted again.”

Someone exclaimed, “Promoted again? You mean Job Grade 4? That’s way too fast…”

Shen Qingyun said, “What’s fast about it? That’s authentic Myriad Laws Immortal Clan. People like us might get fined into bankruptcy just by standing too close.”

“And I heard that just to ruffle Zhang Yu’s hair, Dao Monarch Bu even paid the fine out of her own pocket.”

That sparked another wave of astonished sighs, everyone marveling at Zhang Yu leaping into an immortal nest and living the good life as a favored “noble dog.”

Someone said sourly, “I bet Dao Monarch Bu is just playing around.”

Someone mocked, “You don’t want to be played with?”

Someone said enviously, “With how much Dao Monarch Bu favors the group leader, maybe he’ll even get the chance to carry an immortal seed someday? That’d be a straight shot to the heavens.”

Someone retorted, “No way. Immortal clan bloodlines are strictly controlled. Even if Group Leader Zhang somehow found a chance to get pregnant in secret, he’d definitely be taken away and forced to abort.”

In the blink of an eye, the chat drifted further and further off the rails, wilder and wilder.

Meanwhile, reading all this, True Lord Wuxiang’s heart shook again and again. The Zhang Yu who had already seemed so tall now grew even taller in his mind—so towering that he almost wanted to prostrate himself in worship.

If Zhang Yu had only been like he was during the exams—outstanding in martial dao study and simulations—True Lord Wuxiang wouldn’t have reacted like this.

But seeing Zhang Yu’s skill at clinging to a powerful thigh, True Lord Wuxiang was completely convinced.

Just then someone shouted, “The group leader is back!”

Everyone immediately surged out toward the doorway.

They saw Zhang Yu wearing the sect robe, the shining insignia of Job Grade 2 sect affairs officer and acting group leader glowing above his head, with the leader and members of Martial Dao Group Three following behind him.

Even though that group leader held the status of a Job Grade 3 sect affairs officer, in front of Zhang Yu he looked like a mere assistant.

In that moment, the Zhang Yu whom True Lord Wuxiang had once looked down on now appeared so spirited, so imposing, that True Lord Wuxiang couldn’t help feeling genuine admiration.

True Lord Wuxiang hurried forward to greet Zhang Yu, only to find Shen Qingyun and others already pushing ahead, squeezing him aside.

“Group Leader!”

Before Shen Qingyun and the others could say more, a Law Realm projection descended from above—appearing from a viewpoint only Zhang Yu could see.

The one projecting was the Audit Department’s Minister, Gu Qingya—like Zhang Yu, someone who also came from the lower realm.

At this moment, Gu Qingya’s expression was complicated as he looked at Zhang Yu and said slowly, “The task force matter… is it over?”

Zhang Yu nodded and sent a message: “Minister, I’ll make up Group One’s lagging progress as soon as possible. I won’t let this year’s assessment have problems.”

Seeing Zhang Yu hadn’t grown arrogant after grabbing onto Bu Yingshu’s thigh, Gu Qingya nodded slightly. “No rush. As long as you know what you’re doing.”

“I truly didn’t expect Dao Monarch Bu to value you this much.”

“When I advised you back then… did you already have a plan, and were you laughing at me inside?”

Zhang Yu explained, “Dao Monarch Bu is Myriad Laws Immortal Clan. Her thoughts are beyond my ability to guess. Honestly… at the time, I wasn’t confident either.”

“Minister, you coming over to warn me back then—it meant you had me in your heart. I’ve always been grateful.”

Gu Qingya sighed. “Work hard. And for this period, keep a low profile. With Dao Monarch Bu covering you, the pavilion probably won’t make things difficult for you anymore. But it’s better to be safe than sorry. The spirit realm unrest only just passed—every lineage in the sect is moving, the situation is exactly the kind of chaos where things happen…”

Zhang Yu nodded and accepted the lesson. He understood perfectly how important keeping a low profile was. From now until he officially became a Job Grade 4 sect affairs officer, he had no intention of drawing any more attention.

At the same time, Zhang Yu’s other friends in the sect gradually saw the pinned photo in his Moments and started messaging him to ask what was going on.

After hearing Bu Yingshu’s identity, Xinghuo True Lord couldn’t help sighing: “Zhang Yu and I really do have a master-disciple bond. Even though on Layer 1 I didn’t take him in and instead accepted Yu Xinghan as my disciple, the one who truly inherits all my skills—who can charge forward bravely and advance with unstoppable momentum—is still him.”

Xinghuo True Lord messaged: You focus on your work first. When you have time, we master and disciple should have a proper talk—share experiences

On the other side, after hearing Zhang Yu’s explanation, Yu Xinghan couldn’t help thinking: “No… Myriad Laws Immortal Clan? Brother, I wanted you to eat better, but I didn’t want you to eat this well.”

Yu Xinghan messaged: Brother, start a class. Teach me your methods

Zhang Yu looked at Yu Xinghan’s message and saw that Yu Xinghan had also pulled him into an unfamiliar group chat called “Lower Realm Mutual Aid Society.”

Seeing those familiar names inside, Zhang Yu’s heart stirred—he understood these were all the sect affairs officers who had newly tested up from the lower realm this year.

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