Chapter 1369: Chapter 848: Vice President Zhang! You’re Finally Back!
Fu Ji sighed and said, "What a pity, what a pity."
Zhang Yu said, "There are many ways to obtain resources, there’s no need to rush. For example, this time we saved the world; there should be quite a few rewards for that, right?"
At this, Fu Ji immediately grew excited again. "The Immortal Emperor promised us an unprecedented reward. What do you think it will be? A direct promotion? Up to Refining Void? Tribulation Crossing?"
Zhan Xian analyzed, "It won’t be that kind of reward. The Immortal Emperor... probably won’t openly bestow anything on us. Instead, he’ll secretly give us benefits. As for promotions in rank, with the merits we’ve earned this time, plus the Reform Faction’s support, that’s already sufficient; there’s no need for the Immortal Emperor to specially issue a decree."
"Secretly reward us?" Fu Ji said. "Right, secretly reward us... that has the smallest impact."
Zhan Xian said, "What the Immortal Emperor wants is stability and balance, not to crush the Artifact Spirit Sect to death. If he were to lay his cards on the table and personally come down to support us, then everyone would feel he’s backing the Reform Faction and the Soul Cultivation Sect; the power and influence of those two sides would balloon to an unprecedented level, and everyone’s suppression of the Artifact Spirit Sect would also become unprecedented."
Fu Ji sighed with feeling. "Exactly... So the Immortal Emperor can’t easily step in—at least not in a fair and open way. Otherwise he’d likewise escalate the intensity of the struggle over the Taoist Inheritance and cause the Artifact Spirit Sect to be overly suppressed. He needs to balance the Artifact Spirit Sect, not completely annihilate it."
"But if he rewards us secretly..." Fu Ji suddenly grew worried. "The Immortal Emperor wouldn’t go back on his word, would he? Just toss us some random things to fob us off?"
Hearing this, the Kao Sect Avatar barked, "The Immortal Emperor is a peerless genius of his era, an immortal talent never before seen through the ages, the Immortal among Immortals who rules the Wanfa Sect—how could he possibly deceive us? Besides, it’s our duty to show loyalty to the sect. Reward or no reward, it’s all the same."
Fu Ji scoffed. "You don’t want it, I do! Though it’s true it doesn’t matter to you—once the reward comes down it has nothing to do with you anyway. You can just watch us enjoy it."
The Kao Sect Avatar snorted coldly. "If Zhang Yu uses it, that means I’m using it. As for you? A mere low-grade Evil God like you, you think you’re worthy to share in the Immortal Emperor’s reward with us?"
Fu Ji was so angered by this that she laughed. "Zhang Yu! Mute him!"
Just then, Wild Bull suddenly said, "The Immortal Emperor... will probably send someone down to link up with us, and at the same time hand over that so-called ’unprecedented’ reward."
Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. "Link up... You mean they’re coming to take that evidence?"
In that instant, a string of data surfaced in Zhang Yu’s mind.
These data were the first-hand traces of spatial change he had recorded all along the way as he stepped into the spatial rift and endured the spatial turbulence.
Using these data fluctuations to backtrack, one could detect obvious man-made signatures, more than enough to show that the collapse in the Old Graveyard was artificial.
And if you matched them with the Spirit Realm monitoring data from the Old Graveyard... Zhang Yu believed it would be enough to trace the origin of the rift—when, where, and in what form it had occurred.
"This piece of evidence is enough to find out who triggered the collapse."
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "And if this really was done by the Artifact Spirit Sect, then this data evidence becomes a weapon for restraining the Artifact Spirit Sect."
Zhan Xian said, "Given the Immortal Emperor’s understanding of Immortal Dao Technology, it’s easy for him to infer that we have such a piece of evidence in hand. So... will the Immortal Emperor send someone to secretly negotiate with us, to collect this evidence from us? And at the same time give us that unprecedented reward."
Wild Bull continued, "Negotiation implies exchange, and having a chance to exchange with the other side means we might be able to name conditions for the reward, to fight for something that better suits our wishes."
Wild Bull said, "If we can fight for it ourselves... Zhang Yu, have you thought about what you want?"
Without waiting for Zhang Yu’s answer, Wild Bull was already continuing, "Taoist Inheritance is the most important thing on the Immortal Path, and it’s also the necessary condition for attacking the Immortal Dao Peak and even changing Kunxu. In particular, once you’ve chosen a Taoist Inheritance, it’s equivalent to choosing your opponents and allies. If you want to change later, it will be unimaginably difficult."
"And the foundation of a Taoist Inheritance is the Law Chain. When you reach Refining Void and merge with the Dao, when you begin to establish Law Chains, that will be the time you choose your future Taoist Inheritance. But at that time you won’t be strong enough; you’ll inevitably be constrained by various Inheritance powers, making it very hard to set down the Law Chains you truly want."
Hearing this, Zhan Xian also sighed from the heart. "Who knows how many Immortal Dao prodigies, limited by circumstances, suppressed by their seniors, guided by their superiors, in the end could only choose Law Chains that were destined to have no potential. No matter how high their cultivation becomes in the future, they can only serve as the bedrock supporting that Inheritance, doomed to be trampled underfoot."
Wild Bull agreed. "Exactly. Given your background, when you establish your Law Chains in the future, the result will very likely be something like that—being controlled by others. But... if the Ten Thousand Laws Immortal Emperor can support you, granting you greater freedom... when the time comes for you to establish Law Chains, then that will be an unprecedented boost for your future Immortal Path."
"It’s also a kind of support that would be extremely hard to obtain anywhere else."
Listening to Wild Bull’s words, Zhang Yu also fell into contemplation. "Law Chains, huh?"
And while discussions were playing out in Zhang Yu’s mind, his flesh and blood were also flourishing, about to reach a state where he could move freely.
Sensing the changes in the situation within the Old Graveyard, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "It’s about time for me to take the stage."
...
In the Spirit Realm, the waves stirred up by the Old Graveyard had not subsided. On the contrary, with the retaliatory surge of stock prices, with countless news broadcasts, and with the discussions of all kinds of people... they were only growing more intense.
