No Money to Cultivate Immortality? - Chapter 810 (Patreon)

Chapter 810: Rammed to Death Just Like That?

“Receive the people from the Heavenly Demon Sect?”

Inside the dorm, Zhang Yu’s avatar frowned slightly.

He didn’t want to take on this annoying job, but Qin Chuan was the head of the Youxin Department—his direct superior. With an order forced down from above, Zhang Yu couldn’t exactly refuse outright.

“But if it’s just an avatar… hiding in the dorm to cultivate is fine, but facing powerful cultivators… I might expose a flaw.”

After thinking it over, Zhang Yu decided to have his true body come back for a trip and personally receive the so-called visitors from the Heavenly Demon Sect.

…

Not long before this.

Within the labyrinthine realm of the Old Days Graveyard.

The breeze that Zhang Yu had become threaded rapidly through one twisted office building after another.

From what Zhang Yu understood, the entire labyrinthine realm of the Old Days Graveyard had a scrambled spatial structure. But if you divided it by its original geography, it could be roughly split into three zones: the Office Zone, the Factory Zone, and the Experimental Zone.

Zhang Yu was currently in the Office Zone, dominated by office towers and commercial facilities, with very few factories or laboratories.

And the Office Zone was also the outermost region of the labyrinth. Only by going deeper could one reach the so-called Factory Zone and Experimental Zone.

“There’s still too little valuable stuff to be found in office buildings.”

Zhang Yu looked into the distance. In those layered, overlapping spatial distortions, factory buildings had been randomly stitched together into a single chaotic mass. He thought to himself, “The Factory Zone is the Old Days Graveyard’s manufacturing center. I should be able to find more goods there, and goods with higher value.”

“And deeper still, in the Experimental Zone… valuable things, things the sects care about… there’ll be even more.”

“If I could find资料 on immortal-sect–grade technology from the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Netherworld Palace, or the Whitebone… or even products…”

Over the past half month, while Zhang Yu’s true body explored the labyrinth personally, his avatar also used internal Youxin Department materials to read up on all kinds of intelligence regarding labyrinths and the Old Days Graveyard.

Zhang Yu knew that compared to the Myriad Laws Sect, the Heavenly Demon, Netherworld, and Whitebone factions—past and present—had invested far more resources into the Old Days Graveyard. In the former Experimental Zone, they had poured in massive amounts of immortal coins, conducting research on corpse components and souls.

And in these two areas, the Myriad Laws Sect had always lagged behind them.

“That’s why upper management once issued instructions to the Youxin Department: pay attention to collecting materials from other sects that were lost in the labyrinth.”

“Especially those immortal-sect–grade technical资料 in the Experimental Zone. If we can successfully recover them, that’s a major merit.”

Zhang Yu’s avatar flipped through internal files as he read, sighing. “At the beginning, it even drew a lot of people to go deep into the labyrinth. Even the Youxin Department’s head, Qin Chuan, led a team once to explore the outer Office Zone.”

“But after failure after failure, and continuous losses… the Youxin Department gradually gave up on proactively probing deeper into the labyrinth.”

“If I can enter the Experimental Zone…”

After Immortal Descendant reached level 3, its sensing ability seemed to strengthen as well.

Before, Zhang Yu could only vaguely feel that somewhere within the labyrinth, there was hidden cave-heaven power that Immortal Descendant was meant to inherit.

But now… Zhang Yu could sense more clearly that at least three streams of cave-heaven power lay dormant in the labyrinth, making Immortal Descendant itch with impatience to set them free.

One of them—most refined, most pure, the strongest and most deeply hidden—felt to Zhang Yu like it was in the direction of the Experimental Zone at the very deepest part of the labyrinth.

Zhang Yu thought, “Go deep into the Experimental Zone, free the cave-heaven power that Ying Xintian hid away, raise Immortal Descendant’s level… and if I also find something truly valuable there, that counts as merit too.”

Fu Ji said, “Merit is great. Promotion depends on two major elements: merit and backing. You can’t lack either.”

“And in terms of backing, Zhang Yu, you’ve already gotten Bu Yingshu to accept you. But on the merit side you’re short. The Youxin Department is a dumpster of a place—too little business, no good channels to farm merit.”

“If you can find technical资料 from other sects in the Experimental Zone, best if it’s unpublished, advanced, cutting-edge immortal-dao tech in the corpse and soul fields… then for the Myriad Laws Sect, that’s absolutely a huge merit.”

“Then you just keep stroking Bu Yingshu the right way, and wouldn’t you be able to jump out of this manure pit called the Youxin Department?”

Zhang Yu agreed completely.

And to reach the Experimental Zone, he first had to reach the Factory Zone.

But on the way to the Factory Zone, Zhang Yu discovered something strange.

The road ahead was the main route from the Office Zone to the Factory Zone.

Originally, because of the distorted space, the road had been twisted into a tangled braid. But once Zhang Yu activated Immortal Descendant’s power, in his eyes it reformed into a straight avenue.

Yet as Zhang Yu advanced, he found the avenue was like a road that could never be finished.

Whether he turned into a gale and sprinted forward, or drove his flesh-and-blood strength and shot out with wave after wave of air pressure… no matter how he accelerated, the Factory Zone in the distance was like a mirage, and Zhang Yu could never get even an inch closer.

“Something’s off.”

Zhang Yu tried using Kunlun in the Palm to warp space, hoping it would improve the situation, but it had no effect at all.

Zhanxian warned, “This is probably a method deliberately left behind by Patriarch Master, meant to seal off the Factory Zone and Experimental Zone behind it so no one can approach easily.”

“Maybe you should raise your own ability first.”

Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. He understood that by “ability,” Zhanxian meant raising Immortal Descendant’s level.

Zhang Yu could sense that within the Office Zone, there was still one portion of cave-heaven power hidden that could help Immortal Descendant level up.

It was just that compared to the cave-heaven power in the Factory Zone and Experimental Zone, this one felt weaker to Zhang Yu, and far more faint and hard to pin down.

So originally, Zhang Yu planned to go straight into the Experimental Zone, free the strongest stream of cave-heaven power first, and then come back to gather the others.

“But now it seems…”

Staring at the endless road, Zhang Yu thought, “The way Ying Xintian arranged this… is he expecting later inheritors to free the cave-heaven power step by step, then go deeper step by step?”

He didn’t know why Ying Xintian would do that, but since it was an immortal’s arrangement, Zhang Yu was willing to trust it.

So a moment later, Zhang Yu left the avenue and decided to continue exploring the Office Zone.

But before that, Zhang Yu planned to leave for a bit. One reason was that he was nearly out of money.

To keep the Divine Transformation Pool running continuously, and to meet his monthly loan repayments, Zhang Yu had to keep money in his account at all times.

“Time to take some things from the cave-heaven and cash them out.”

Zhang Yu had also thought about connecting the Divine Transformation Pool into the cave-heaven, but the cave-heaven he controlled had no spirit veins, and certainly no 24/7 supply of mana and spiritual essence. If he moved the pool in, it wouldn’t be able to operate, so he gave up on that.

Of course, besides the money problem, there was another reason: Qin Chuan’s reception task.

“The Heavenly Demon Sect, huh?” Zhang Yu planned to personally return to the Youxin Department.

Just then, a clattering, splashing sound rang out.

Zhang Yu swept his gaze over and saw a crooked, wobbling figure walking along the road ahead.

It was a living thing that looked like it had seven hands and eight legs, no head, as if various human organs had been forcibly stitched together.

“A berserk corpse component?”

Zhang Yu knew this was a corpse component left behind in the labyrinth by some sect—and not every lost corpse component was safe.

Some corpse components had no brain, no thought, no consciousness, but after being lost in the labyrinth and losing control, they were driven by bodily instinct, broke free of restraints, and wandered the labyrinth out of control.

How dangerous they were mostly depended on their original function.

Some corpse components used for breathing cultivation looked like assembled living corpses. Most of the time they just quietly breathed and absorbed. Only when hunger pushed the flesh did they begin searching for food.

Because the labyrinth lacked supplies, their final targets often became other corpse components.

This type of breathing living corpse was also one of the most common berserk corpse components in the Office Zone.

Fu Ji said, “Don’t bother with that thing. It’s a pain to deal with, and it’s not worth anything when you sell it. Let’s go.”

Zhang Yu flashed, already turning into a gale that swept across the street.

With the shapeshifting ability granted by Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation, plus the concealment boosted by his Feather Spirit Root, Zhang Yu moved through the labyrinth without a trace—difficult for anyone to notice—and he hadn’t triggered a single battle.

Especially after Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation reached level 50, Zhang Yu could not only become flame—his transformations into gale, flowing water, earth and stone, and metal also became increasingly natural and effortless, following his will as easily as breathing.

And besides his level 50 Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation, over this period his avatar refined immortal-dao technology daily and successively pushed all seven expert-grade arts of the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes to level 50, mastering level 50 Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might.

On top of that, Zhang Yu also pushed two immortal-sect–grade dao techniques—Three Worlds Ten Directions Taixu Absolute Barrier and Hell Soul-Washing Scripture—to level 50. The former let him set up spatial barriers with greater range and higher strength, while the latter let him manipulate memories more freely, even pouring memories into someone else’s sea of consciousness.

Beyond that, supported by the Feathered Tome and the daily cultivation of his avatars, Zhang Yu also smoothly advanced the chain diagram, Divine Transformation Dao Body, to 17/14, successfully unlocking a new layer of effect.

Limitless—Divine Transformation Dao Body (12/12): Divine Transformation Dao Body effect increased by 20%

Seeing this effect, Zhang Yu smiled in satisfaction. “As long as I keep pushing this Divine Transformation Dao Body further, the effect of my soul soaking in the Divine Transformation Pool will keep getting stronger, and the time needed to push the Ten Transformations of Divine Light will get shorter and shorter.”

“And the ability to restructure the soul… the efficiency and effect of cultivating Divine Transformation realm arts… all of it will keep improving.”

As Zhang Yu moved forward, he encountered three separate waves of cultivators from various factions.

Zhang Yu thought, “Why does it feel like more cultivators have been entering the labyrinth to explore these past few days?”

Only after he flew out of the labyrinth did Zhang Yu learn the reason.

“The labyrinth has more entrances?”

Looking at the changes along the labyrinth boundary, Zhang Yu felt as though the labyrinth had been shaken open with several more cracks.

He immediately thought of the changes after he freed the true spirit of the Heavenly Demon Crown Prince.

“Is it because of what I did? The process of freeing cave-heaven power changed the labyrinth’s spatial structure and created more entrances?”

Zhang Yu understood that more entrances also meant more exits, which meant lower risk.

“Is that why it attracted more people to explore?”

Zhang Yu wasn’t sure, but his intuition told him… maybe not.

Zhanxian said, “It could be the Heavenly Demon Sect—or other powerful sects entrenched in the Old Days Graveyard—noticed the changes.”

“Even if they haven’t invested much effort into handling the labyrinth, they’ve surely been observing it.”

“If they discovered the labyrinth undergoing an abnormal change, it’s normal to send more people to investigate.”

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. “I wonder what changes the labyrinth will undergo the next time I free cave-heaven power.”

“If it draws more and more people into the labyrinth to explore…”

“I need to speed up too.”

He understood that if more and more people poured into the labyrinth, it would definitely affect his exploration—possibly even turning them into competitors for recovering lost materials.

Next, Zhang Yu found several shops belonging to different outer sects and exchanged the materials he’d brought out.

“A bit over fifty thousand immortal coins in total?”

Looking at the extra immortal coins in his account, Zhang Yu finally relaxed. “Looks like my plan works. Explore the labyrinth while cultivating—raise Immortal Descendant while greatly easing my financial pressure.”

Just then, Zhang Yu’s vision filled with a message from Bu Yingshu.

Bu Yingshu: Zhang Yu, why haven’t you used the divine shuttle I gave you at all? [Angry]

Zhang Yu quickly replied: I just finished something. I was about to drive it—can’t wait anymore.

Bu Yingshu: [Smiling]

Zhang Yu thought, “After I retrieve the shuttle, I’ll take it out for a quick ride.”

As for that divine shuttle, Zhang Yu was terrified there might be powerful monitoring within it. Naturally, he wouldn’t carry it around. He always shrank it down to dust and stored it underground near the dorm building.

And just as Zhang Yu retrieved the divine shuttle, he saw the Youxin Department’s small building not far away. He watched soul cultivators descend in groups like a dark cloud—like a pitch-black palace—wrapping the entire building.

Zhang Yu could tell it wasn’t purely made of soul cultivators. It was a special treasure, cloud-like, capable of housing tens of thousands of soul cultivators.

He could even sense that within this treasure there was also cave-heaven power. Vaguely, he could see layer upon layer of space flickering within it.

“This is an immortal-sect–grade treasure that can house soul cultivators, provide powerful computational capacity, protect the user, and serve as a self-contained residence.”

At that moment, Zhang Yu’s vision filled again with a message from Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan: Where are you? The guests are already in the reception room. Get over here right now.

Zhang Yu thought, “Looks like the guests from the Heavenly Demon Sect are loaded.”

And in Kunxu, Zhang Yu knew that being loaded meant being powerful, meant having backing.

When Zhang Yu arrived outside the reception room, he saw a vast shadow covering the entire corridor.

Within that shadow, countless terrifying auras seemed to surge upward. Ghostly silhouettes flickered in and out, as if the corridor had become a road to the Yellow Springs.

When Zhang Yu stepped in, streams of information rose from the Spiritual Realm and appeared before him.

“You have entered the Heavenly Demon Sect’s domain.”

“Please accept inspection, or immediately withdraw.”

Seeing this notice, Zhang Yu’s eyes sharpened. “The Heavenly Demon Sect really is that overbearing in the Old Days Graveyard.”

Just then, a soft snort sounded from inside the reception room.

“This is the new deputy head of the Youxin Department, right? Let him in. No need to inspect him.”

In an instant, the shadow split open, forming a passage leading straight toward the reception room.

When Zhang Yu entered, he saw Qin Chuan—the head of the Youxin Department—receiving the guests with a humble, friendly face.

There were two guests from the Heavenly Demon Sect. As Zhang Yu looked at them, he received the information they displayed through the Spiritual Realm.

“Ling Chiye.” Zhang Yu looked at the ghostly, yin-aura–heavy figure who had descended via soul projection and thought, “A level-5 sect-affairs officer of the Heavenly Demon Sect? Equivalent to an Audit Department head—a Refining Void cultivator.”

Then he looked at the other guest, a young-looking man. This one wasn’t traveling by soul or spirit—he’d descended in the flesh, and waves of heat rolled off him, constantly disrupting the surrounding yin environment.

But what made Zhang Yu take him even more seriously was the wild arrogance clinging to him—the contempt for all things, the brazen way he sat as if everyone else were ants. It felt familiar to Zhang Yu.

“Bu Yingshu has a similar vibe, but this guy…”

“Ying Aikun?” Zhang Yu froze slightly. “A level-4 sect-affairs officer of the Heavenly Demon Sect. A Divine Transformation cultivator.”

Just then, Zhanxian’s voice sounded in Zhang Yu’s sea of consciousness.

After a sigh, Zhanxian said, “This Ying Aikun should be Patriarch Master’s descendant. Back in the sect, I even saw him before. This man… is at least ten times more overbearing than Bu Yingshu. He was also a staunch supporter of the Innate Dao Lineage back then. Tightening recruitment from the lower realms, expanding the Law Realm downward—his pushing played a major role.”

Zhang Yu said in surprise, “Ying Xintian’s descendant? He wasn’t purged?”

Zhang Yu remembered that during his initial sect training, he once saw memories of Lord Fuxian. Her memories had been stripped into countless fragments and sold everywhere, squeezed for profit for eternity.

But this Ying Aikun in front of him looked like he was living just fine.

Zhang Yu frowned. “And… why is he a sect-affairs officer of the Heavenly Demon Sect?”

Zhanxian said, “After Patriarch Master acted, many descendants were surely purged. But Ying Aikun… was likely protected by another big figure. So he was only expelled from the Myriad Laws Sect, stripped of immortal-clan status, and ended up joining the Heavenly Demon Sect.”

“But with that fall from grace, his cultivation seems to have dropped to the Divine Transformation realm.”

Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. He immediately asked, “The big figure who could protect Ying Aikun… who?”

Zhanxian said, “Patriarch Master’s dao companion—the enlightened true immortal of the Myriad Laws Sect… Taizhen Immortal Venerable. Only she could have saved Ying Aikun and sent him into the Heavenly Demon Sect.”

Curiosity surged in Zhang Yu. “Saved Ying Aikun?”

In Zhang Yu’s view, for Ying Xintian’s dao companion to avoid being purged, aside from being overwhelmingly powerful, she must also not have been on Ying Xintian’s side.

Fu Ji said, “If it’s an immortal who’s selfish and profit-driven, then she did it because there was something to gain.”

Zhang Yu thought many things, but the entire chain of thought flashed by in an instant—externally, barely a moment had passed.

Ying Aikun propped his cheek with one hand and swept Zhang Yu with an appraising glance. He seemed to have no interest, and simply turned back to Qin Chuan.

“Little Qin, the days in the Youxin Department aren’t easy, huh?”

“Is the Imperial Law Pavilion still the same as ever? Is the pavilion master still Si Xuxiao?”

Hearing Ying Aikun casually rattle off a long list of names, Qin Chuan could only give a helpless bitter smile.

Even though Ying Aikun’s sect-affairs rank and realm were below his, his background was vastly larger. His seniority and connections inside the Myriad Laws Sect were beyond Qin Chuan’s imagining. Who knew—after lying low for decades or centuries… he might rise again at any time.

So standing before Ying Aikun, Qin Chuan—despite the higher official rank—looked like a junior, nodding repeatedly and agreeing to everything.

Ying Aikun continued, “I came today to tell you: I’m borrowing your department’s soul cultivators for a bit. I’ll give you five points of interest.”

Qin Chuan knew what “five points of interest” meant: borrow one hundred soul cultivators, return one hundred and five. Soul cultivators were being treated as pure consumables—only the quantity mattered, not their individual identities.

Qin Chuan said, “Our department’s soul cultivators are all on record… that’s not good.”

Ying Aikun’s brow furrowed. He barked, “What’s not good about it? Everything the Myriad Laws Sect has—didn’t the ancestors carve it out? And you’re telling me this?”

“I’m telling you: this time, I have an elder sister coming over too. I’m asking to borrow and you won’t? Then when she asks to borrow, you’ll be dealing with her instead.”

Qin Chuan froze slightly. He glanced at Ling Chiye, shocked. “Could it be… someone from the Heavenly Demon immortal clan…”

Hearing them, Zhang Yu thought, “Ying Aikun has an elder sister in the Heavenly Demon immortal clan? Do Ying Xintian’s descendants have someone who joined the Heavenly Demon Sect?”

Zhanxian fell silent for a moment, then said, “Aside from the Myriad Laws Sect, Taizhen Immortal Venerable has descendants in the other nine major sects as well.”

Zhang Yu froze. “Huh?”

Zhanxian sighed. “Those descendants have nothing to do with Patriarch Master.”

Zhang Yu’s thoughts spun. “Taizhen Immortal Venerable’s descendants, but unrelated to Ying Xintian…”

“Wait… is this a cuckold situation? Taizhen Immortal Venerable cheated on Ying Xintian? And not just once—nine times? In the nine sects outside the Myriad Laws Sect, she had descendants with others?”

The thought left Zhang Yu stunned. “Damn… Brother Ying… no wonder you flipped the table. This Kunxu trickles down from the top—none of them treat people like people.”

Fu Ji said, “So that’s how it is? If Ying Aikun’s elder sister is from the Heavenly Demon immortal clan, what about the others? Taizhen Immortal Venerable is clearly a Myriad Laws Sect immortal—how can she establish an immortal clan inside other sects too?”

Zhanxian said, “Except for the Heavenly Demon-Beast faction, yes—they all belong to the immortals’ clans of their respective sects. Or rather… it’s a clan that spans sects. You could call it the Taizhen Immortal Clan.”

Hearing that, Fu Ji felt genuine shock.

“Terrifying… absolutely terrifying.”

“Having children isn’t anything special. For immortals today it’s basically unnecessary—have too many and they become a burden. Immortals and powerful cultivators don’t even breed anymore.”

Fu Ji exclaimed, “But to breed that many descendants, place them into other sects, have them become immortal clans there—within the nine major sects? That’s truly a heaven-reaching method. How did Taizhen Immortal Venerable even do it?”

Zhanxian said, “It probably has to do with the lineage she controls. These past years, within the Myriad Laws Sect, the push for dual-cultivation and breeding-related lineages and laws… all of it is connected to her.”

“How much power does that take?” Fu Ji sighed. “Honestly, Ying Xintian was too narrow-minded. With a dao companion that formidable, and that many sons to freeload off of, he would’ve been admired and envied by everyone in Kunxu. Sigh… why rebel at all?”

Just then, Qin Chuan looked at Zhang Yu and introduced him to Ying Aikun. “This is Deputy Head Zhang, responsible for maintaining the soul cultivators. He knows all the counts.”

“Deputy Head Zhang, you handle this matter.”

Qin Chuan had originally wanted Zhang Yu to receive the Heavenly Demon Sect visitors. Now he wanted to shove the “borrowing soul cultivators”—or rather, “misappropriating soul cultivators”—onto Zhang Yu’s shoulders.

If something went wrong, it would be Zhang Yu’s personal action, unrelated to him.

If nothing went wrong, he’d toss Zhang Yu a bit of benefit while keeping the bulk for himself.

Hearing this, Zhanxian said, “It’s a trap. Don’t take it.”

Zhang Yu said, “Minister, is there an official document?”

Qin Chuan smiled. “Deputy Head Zhang, I and Senior Ying are asking you for help. You still want an official document?”

Zhang Yu said, “Minister, if this is Youxin Department business, then please issue the order through official paperwork.”

Hearing that, Ying Aikun looked at Zhang Yu as if he were an idiot. “Kid, are you sick in the head? Do you even know who I am?”

At that moment, Zhang Yu’s vision filled again with Bu Yingshu’s messages.

Bu Yingshu: Why still hasn’t the divine shuttle moved? [Angry]

Bu Yingshu: [Stomp]

Zhang Yu replied: Daoist Lord, please wait a moment. I’ll be right there.

Ying Aikun said, “A deputy head in the Youxin Department—back in the day… you weren’t even qualified to meet the underlings of my underlings. Believe it or not, I can send one message right now and have you transferred to logistics.”

Facing Ying Aikun’s threat, Zhang Yu could only say, “Then please, senior, issue an official document.”

Ying Aikun laughed. In an instant, divine light swirled around him, and the radiant splendor of a Kill Permit bloomed across the air like a sky full of light.

At the same time, shadows of Righteous Gods descended, saying in unison to Ying Aikun, “Honored user, you have begun using the Heavenly Court Kill Permit. From this moment onward, those you kill are all people who deserve death.”

And for everyone in the Youxin Department—including Zhang Yu and Qin Chuan—messages appeared before their eyes.

“You have entered Ying Aikun’s lawful killing domain. Please abandon all resistance to avoid illegal and criminal behavior.”

Looking at the Righteous Gods glaring like tigers, Zhang Yu understood… if he dared resist Ying Aikun, he would likely be swarmed by the Righteous Gods on the spot.

The next moment, Ying Aikun reached out toward Zhang Yu.

He didn’t circulate cultivation, didn’t use mana. He even deliberately… slowly… inch by inch… extended his hand toward Zhang Yu’s head.

This sensation—crushing the opponent purely with privilege—was far more entertaining to Ying Aikun than crushing them with strength.

Staring at Zhang Yu, Ying Aikun said coldly, “If you’ve got the guts, then try dodging.”

And in Zhang Yu’s vision, warning after warning appeared, reminding him he was not permitted to resist…

Just as Zhang Yu tried to control the divine shuttle, he felt it go out of control.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, Ying Aikun no longer had an upper body. The wall behind him had been punched through layer after layer.

Zhang Yu looked at Bu Yingshu’s latest message—she had just sent:

Bu Yingshu: If you won’t drive it, I’ll drive it myself!

Zhang Yu: Daoist Lord… you seem to have hit someone. [Terrified]

Bu Yingshu: Someone was there? I thought it was a deceleration field.

Bu Yingshu: Whatever. It’s fine. An immortal shuttle rams you—getting rammed is getting rammed.

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