Chapter 714: Zhang Yu Leaves Seclusion, Funeral

Chapter 714: Zhang Yu's Emergence, The Funeral

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "As things stand, the greatest aid and support I can offer my two mentors is likely to continue elevating the level of my celestial orthodox arts, mastering more advanced spatial technologies, and introducing spatial magical treasures that are more advantageous to the theater of war."

To fully concentrate on his cultivation and raise the level of the *Three Realms and Ten Directions Primordial Void Barrier* at the absolute maximum speed, Zhang Yu had already resolved to disregard all external affairs, investing every shred of his mental and physical energy into the mastery of celestial orthodox arts, save for swapping spiritual roots with Bai Zhenzhen every few days to enhance his cultivation efficiency.

To this end, he had even temporarily severed his connection to the spiritual realm, instructing Yu Xinhuan, Bei Wufeng, and the others only to monitor incoming news from all sides and report to him exclusively if a matter of monumental gravity arose.

And so... Zhang Yu immersed himself entirely in his cultivation, continuously consuming the various resources dispatched from the research association, advancing his cultivation level step by step.

Time flowed on unceasingly throughout this process.

One day, two days, three days...

In the blink of an eye, a month had already passed!

...

Accompanied by a long breath of turbid air exhaled from within, Zhang Yu's gaze swept over the Feathered Book before him, noting the shift in the data displayed upon it.

Because he had completely abstained from cultivating physical body tempering techniques during this past month, his physical strength remained frozen at level 37.49.

His Dao Heart and magical power, however, had been steadily elevating at every moment, driven by the passive operation of his core mental methods.

Though his Dao Heart had suffered several burnings due to his previous invocation of the *Heavenly Art of Creation* to design the *Primordial Void Cloud Cache*, it had nevertheless reached the level of level 36 (85.36%), granting him absolute, effortless control over every inch of flesh and blood, and every ounce of power within and without his body.

His magical power, in the midst of its day-and-night unceasing elevation, had been propelled to a level of 38,959 units, surging restlessly through his veins like a vast, roaring river.

Of course, these baseline statistics were merely the passive cultivation benefits Zhang Yu had accrued along the way; his greatest harvest over the past month remained the *Three Realms and Ten Directions Primordial Void Barrier*, which had now been elevated to level 40.

Feeling the myriad insights, knowledges, and techniques of the level 40 celestial orthodox art flowing through his mind, Zhang Yu experienced an illusion—a sensation as though he had already cultivated this celestial art for over a century, executing it hundreds of millions of times.

"If I had been born in ancient times without the aid of the Feathered Book, it would likely have taken a century of arduous years to propel this orthodox art to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage."

Zhang Yu pressed his palms together and then pulled them apart, causing a shimmering spatial barrier to rise between his hands.

At this moment, Zhang Yu could clearly sense that as long as he was willing to infuse his own magical power into it, he could expand this spatial barrier indefinitely.

"This is likely the technological foundation upon which the Firmament can be generated."

As he gazed at the spatial barrier he had deployed before him, Zhang Yu's mind drifted back to a month ago, recalling the Firmament he had breached by relying on his status as a celestial descendant.

Comparing the differences between the two, he quickly reached a conclusion: "The fourth and fifth layers of the Firmament are far more formidable than the spatial barrier in my hands. This is not merely because their technology is slightly superior to mine, but also because the Firmament contains the power of formations."

As a wealth of knowledge and data swirled through his mind, Zhang Yu silently calculated, "The cultivators who deployed the fourth and fifth layers of the Firmament are not only masters of the *Three Realms and Ten Directions Primordial Void Barrier* at level 40 or higher, but also grandmasters of formation arts, utilizing formations to bring this Firmament into reality..."

Having been in seclusion for a month, Zhang Yu now possessed an increasingly profound understanding of the terrible might of the fourth and fifth layers of the Firmament.

However, although his technical proficiency in the *Three Realms and Ten Directions Primordial Void Barrier* had not yet surpassed theirs, by combining the two techniques of the *Kunlun within the Palm* and the *Three Realms and Ten Directions Primordial Void Barrier*, a growing number of concepts for breaching spatial barriers like the fourth and fifth layers of the Firmament were gradually taking shape in his mind.

Recalling the external situations that Yu Xinhuan and Bei Wufeng had respectively informed him of a few days ago, Zhang Yu suppressed his inclination to break his seclusion immediately.

"The current me will be of no use even if I emerge now."

"I must design at least one product—a product capable of effectively altering the current state of affairs..."

With the activation of the *Heavenly Art of Creation*, Zhang Yu felt a thunderous roar echo in his mind, as though a sphere of fire were burning furiously.

The design blueprint for a magical treasure gradually materialized within his consciousness.

"It needs to be more widespread... it must be able to harness the strength of more people..."

"Reduce the cost."

"The cost must be lowered further, so that more people can utilize it..."

...

Several days later.

Inside the laboratory, Bei Wufeng, Jin Jun, Yan Qianji, and the others appeared somewhat absent-minded, occasionally browsing the news in the spiritual realm through their ocular remains, their eyes reflecting a tinge of anxiety.

With the drastic shifts in the theater of war, the daily influx of miscellaneous information and news held a tight, intense grip on their minds.

Even some of the laboratory workbenches had accumulated a thin layer of dust, appearing untouched for some time; the occupants of the laboratory had utterly lost the heart to work.

Right at that moment, accompanied by the opening of the laboratory doors, Zhang Yu's figure manifested before everyone's eyes.

"True Monarch." Jin Jun's body straightened instinctively as he looked at Zhang Yu in surprise. "Why have you come?"

Ever since the battle of the Soul Formation stage on the fourth and fifth layers commenced, Zhang Yu had entered a state of total seclusion.

Since then, Jin Jun had not set eyes on him, witnessing only countless resources being funneled into his quiet chamber, making him resemble a bottomless abyss that swallowed every ounce of celestial cultivation provisions sent his way.

Zhang Yu nodded slightly to the crowd, his gaze shifting toward the *Solar Brilliant God* and the twelve *Great Bright Sacred Law Flying Swords* resting upon the experimental workbench.

These two military-grade magical treasures, having been refined by several Nascent Soul cultivators of the Artifact Refining Department with the assistance of Bei Wufeng and others, had one after another attained the peak Nascent Soul level of level 40.

With a flash of Zhang Yu's ocular remains, the two military-grade magical treasures soared into the air, vanishing as he stored them into his *Primordial Void Cloud Cache*.

Simultaneously, a wealth of data, precautions, and operational manuals concerning these two level 40 treasures flooded his consciousness.

A level 40 *Solar Brilliant God* possessed the power to reduce a thousand miles to scorched earth; it held not only the might to boil mountains and incinerate seas, but could also refine vast quantities of matter into magical power.

The sword formation deployed by the level 40 *Great Bright Sacred Law Flying Swords* was sufficient to radiate across a thousand miles, freely transmitting power within the formation, slicing through the spiritual realm, and detecting adversaries.

It could be said that the existence of these two level 40 magical treasures could patch many deficiencies in Zhang Yu's accumulated foundation following his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.

As for the *Solar Brilliant God* that True Monarch Magnetic Pole had used to escort him back, that belonged to the True Monarch himself, who had naturally returned to the battlefield afterward; Zhang Yu's arrival at the laboratory upon his emergence now was precisely to reclaim his own treasures.

Following this, Zhang Yu looked toward another set of ocular remains on the workbench and said, "Has the level 40 *Nine Nether Demon Eye* arrived as well? Help me equip it."

During his Foundation Establishment stage, Zhang Yu had utilized the *Nine Nether Demon Eye*, a type of ocular remain that could see through soul cultivators and freeze yin spirits, focusing heavily on offense and defense within the spiritual realm.

However, in his subsequent rapid breakthroughs to the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms, he had not found the time to replace them with ocular remains better suited to his status, temporarily equipping a basic Nascent Soul-level ocular remain instead.

Now, putting on the *Nine Nether Demon Eye* newly refined for him by the Myriad Laws University, the laboratory before Zhang Yu's eyes suddenly became packed to the brim; soul cultivators attached to various devices and the spiritual realm network were everywhere, along with their names, information, origins, and ranks...

He could even pierce through the obstruction of the walls via the distribution of spiritual realm signals, observing the conditions of adjacent rooms, watching the cultivators within emit waves of spiritual realm signals, and tracking their positions and trajectories...

He could also see the bodies of Bei Wufeng, Yan Qianji, and Jin Jun before him continuously transmitting and receiving spiritual realm signals.

An unprecedented sense of fluidity and mastery surfaced in Zhang Yu's heart, greatly enhancing his visual capabilities and observational powers.

After collecting these three level 40 magical treasures in succession, Zhang Yu turned, intending to depart.

Right then, Yan Qianji could not help but speak out: "True Monarch, are you returning to your quiet chamber for seclusion once more?"

Staring at the turning figure of Zhang Yu, Yan Qianji roared furiously within his own mind, "You have consumed a colossal amount of resources, and the Principal has even transferred all manner of authorities within the campus to you. Faced with the current situation, do you really intend to do nothing? Do you intend to just hide away in seclusion forever, doing nothing but elevating your own cultivation?"

Though a storm of anger raged in his mind, Yan Qianji maintained a degree of restraint on the surface, speaking calmly: "I would like to ask, True Monarch, just how long do you intend to remain in seclusion?"

Jin Jun immediately interjected, "Yan Qianji, what nonsense are you asking? The True Monarch naturally has his own calculations. Who are you to question him?"

Yan Qianji frowned, his heart burning with indignation: "Did I say something wrong? He has been in seclusion for so long, yet what contributions has he made? On what basis does he pass the monthly assessments and performance reviews of the research association?"

Yet, Yan Qianji still kept his inner thoughts unspoken, merely muttering in a low voice, "Everyone outside is asking. Do you all intend to keep pretending you don't know?"

Bei Wufeng sighed softly, thinking to himself, "Even if it is true, you cannot speak so recklessly."

Yan Qianji looked directly at Zhang Yu and said, "True Monarch Zhu Yi, if your next step is still to return to your seclusion, I crave your indulgence to take my leave. I have no desire to remain here and waste my time."

With that, he unbuttoned his uniform, clearly harboring the intention to resign from the laboratory.

Zhang Yu, however, paid no heed to Yan Qianji's attitude, speaking with absolute serenity: "My seclusion has already concluded."

"Next, I intend to gather the various high-ranking officials of the university for a discussion."

"Do you know if they have any meetings scheduled recently, or a place where they are currently gathered?"

Watching Zhang Yu's deep, unruffled composure, Yan Qianji froze slightly for a brief moment before continuing, "Today is the True Lord of Heaven's Slaughter's funeral. Most of the Nascent Souls in the school will likely attend."

Seeing Zhang Yu shift his stance and swiftly drift out of the laboratory, Yan Qianji muttered to himself, "Does he intend to go to the funeral? What is he planning to do?"

Just then, Jin Jun was seen shedding his uniform and hurriedly giving chase.

From the side, Bei Wufeng called out, "Jin Jun, what are you doing? It is still working hours."

Jin Jun looked back and said, "Senior brother, what's the point of working now? Given the current situation, gathering more intelligence from all sides is what matters most."

"I have a premonition that something monumental might happen if the True Lord goes there this time."

With that, he turned his gaze to Zi Yunzhen, Su Yunni, Liu Xiangqiao, and the other assistants, adding, "Alright, stop pretending to work so diligently."

"There isn't actually that much to do in our laboratory anyway. Let us all go together and see exactly what the True Lord intends to do." Ever since Zhang Yu had arrived at the laboratory, Zi Yunzhen and the others had been keeping themselves busy with various tasks, though no one could tell what they were actually accomplishing.

Although they had remained busy, ninety percent of their attention had been fixed entirely upon Zhang Yu.

Particularly when Yan Qianji had stepped forward just moments ago, they had pricked up their ears, terrified of missing a single word.

Now, exposed by Jin Jun's blunt remark, Zi Yunzhen and the others stopped their feigned work in slight embarrassment, then followed Jin Jun out of the laboratory.

Witnessing this scene, Bei Wufeng let out a helpless smile and quickly pursued them. "Why is everyone leaving?"

Yan Qianji stared at the laboratory that had emptied in the blink of an eye, and looking at his own abandoned self, thought, "What is the meaning of this?"

At the same time, a question welled up within his heart, "Do I even count as a member of this laboratory anymore? Did Zhang Yu approve my resignation or not?"

"And what exactly is he trying to do?"

Gazing at the deserted room, Yan Qianji turned around and likewise made his way toward the location of the True Lord of Heaven's Slaughter's funeral.

...

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu's form had already soared into the sky, arriving above the Research Association.

Just as he ascended into the heavens, a colossal shadow cast itself downward, blanketing the entire Great Hollow and the campus regions near it in total darkness.

Zhang Yu raised his head to scan the sky, and looking toward the source of that immense shadow, he could discern a dragon's head as massive as a mountain peak, its dragon eyes wide with fury, staring dead down at the Great Hollow below.

"Lord Cangshi of the Heavenly Demon University..."

The giant shadow currently shrouding the expanse above the Great Hollow was none other than Lord Cangshi's mountain-like dragon corpse.

Aside from the clearly visible, massive dragon head, every single building-sized scale upon the carcass and the various scars—which resembled geological disasters—were equally prominent, as if narrating the horrific onslaught this dragon body had endured during its lifetime, serving as a warning to every cultivator below who could observe it.

This dragon corpse was now enveloped by layers of spatial barriers, wedged into the formerly shattered vault of heaven, mending the sky between the third and fourth layers of Kunxu once more to sever the upper world from the lower.

The sole Form Transformation cultivator of the Heavenly Demon University had perished in body, while his primordial spirit's whereabouts remained entirely unknown.

Beholding this sight, Zhang Yu let out a sigh. Though he had already learned of the shifting situation through the occasional reports from Bei Wufeng, Yu Xinghan, and others, gazing upon the dragon corpse in the sky still stirred a profound sense of lament within him.

In the early stages of the war, everything had proceeded smoothly; the Form Transformation experts of the Ten Great Academies had won victory after victory, launching a general offensive against the fifth layer of Kunxu and reaping massive profits from the territory of the Righteous Qi Alliance.

Yet during this very process, Lord Cangshi of the Heavenly Demon University had taken the vanguard. While the Form Transformation war raged, he would frequently descend to the fourth layer of Kunxu to engage in frantic plundering, often ignoring the summons of Lord Magnetic Pole to participate in the main assault on the fifth layer.

Under the plundering led by Lord Cangshi, Form Transformation masters from other schools eventually joined the pillaging of the fourth layer as well.

Zhang Yu silently thought to himself, "To contest for interests, to maximize their own individual profits, the Form Transformation lords of the ten schools ultimately failed to stand united."

"In the end, it caused everything to spiral out of control..."

In the next moment, Zhang Yu looked up at the sky, peering toward the scenery above the heavenly vault that belonged to the fourth layer.

After the great transformation of heaven and earth years ago, layers two through five had been completely interconnected, allowing the sights of the upper layers to be seen from the skies of the lower layers.

Just as Zhang Yu, while stationed in the second layer back then, could see the landscapes of the third and fourth layers, the current Zhang Yu in the third layer could likewise view the sky of the fourth layer.

First, he could see masses of pitch-black dark clouds that seemed to possess a life of their own, roaming wantonly across the lands of the fourth layer.

Those were the myriad Heavenly Fiend children of Lord Nielian from the Heavenly Fiend University. When Lord Nielian had originally joined the plunder of the fourth layer, he had unleashed these countless fiend children; wherever they passed was like a plague of locusts, frantically devouring everything to strengthen and replicate themselves.

But now, these rogue fiend children wandered like clusters of black storm clouds across the fourth layer of Kunxu, devouring everything they encountered.

Concurrently, the entire sky of the fourth layer had already turned a faint, pale red.

That was the influence of Lord Yinquan's Netherworld Blood Pool.

During the initial plundering of the fourth layer of Kunxu, Lord Yinquan had operated the Netherworld Blood Pool, its rising crimson torrent sweeping countless cultivators and living creatures into its depths, dissolving them into pools of blood.

Now, the uncontrolled Netherworld Blood Pool had transformed into a blood-colored river spanning the sky of the fourth layer, where from time to time, silhouettes could be seen sucked into it, struggling desperately within the currents until they finally turned into blood-shadows, seemingly unleashing screeching wails of agony.

The dharma treasures that the Form Transformation lords had expended countless resources to forge had now, after losing their masters' control, become natural disasters sweeping through the fourth layer of Kunxu, causing staggering destruction with every passing moment.

Furthermore, the genuine natural disasters had completely broken free of restraint.

Hail, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, tempests... all manner of natural calamities erupted continuously across the fourth layer of Kunxu.

When the Form Transformation masters of the Ten Great Academies were pillaging the fourth layer, several cultivators skilled in talismans had joined forces to hijack the weather controller within the Spiritual Realm Network, engineering planet-wide disasters that swept the entire layer.

Yet at this moment, the weather controller was left unmanned and had completely malfunctioned; red warnings of overdue fees and penalty alerts flashed across the hills and fields, while various natural disasters took turns playing out, as if intent on turning the entire fourth layer of Kunxu into an absolute zone of exclusion for living things.

Zhang Yu knew that the reason the fourth layer of Kunxu had devolved into such a state was because the power of the Form Transformation experts had escaped their grasp, turning into an anarchic cataclysm.

And one of the primary causes for this loss of control was the severance of connection.

Just like the myriad Heavenly Fiend children and the Netherworld Blood Pool of Lord Nielian and Lord Yinquan, it was precisely because they had disconnected from their masters that they entered this rampant state.

Zhang Yu sighed, the reasons behind the shifting situation replaying once more within his mind.

"As more and more Form Transformation lords relegated the forces originally meant for the decisive battle on the fifth layer down to the fourth layer for pillaging to maximize their personal gains—and with examples like Lord Cangshi leading the desertion from the battlefield..."

Zhang Yu lamented inwardly, "The Form Transformation lords of the ten schools and their forces gradually dispersed across the fourth and fifth layers."

Subsequently, as the breached vault of heaven was sealed shut once more, the fifth and fourth layers of Kunxu became like two gargantuan cages, binding the Form Transformation lords of the ten schools within them.

Upon receiving the news, Zhang Yu had once secretly emerged from his seclusion, attempting to use the power of the immortal descendants to breach the sky again.

But this time, he discovered that the difficulty of breaking through the heavenly vault had increased immensely. Particularly... even if he risked severe injury to force a breach, the hole would rapidly heal, sealing everything off anew.

Immediately following that, he sensed a terrifying aura sweeping toward him, as if it would descend along the heavenly vault at any moment.

Sensing this, Zhang Yu knew he could not afford to keep trying, and had retreated immediately at the time.

"The opponent... must have held back their strength the last time they broke through the sky."

After experiencing this attempt, Zhang Yu's heart sank, understanding that the enemy had withheld this power and concealed the strongest form of the fourth and fifth layers' vault earlier precisely to lure the tigers from the mountain, intentionally drawing the Form Transformation lords of the Ten Great Academies inside.

"Even the spreading of the news to detonate the fifth layer was done for this purpose, wasn't it? To draw the Form Transformation lords up there."

"And then, the Form Transformation lords, driven by their respective interests... did not even need to be deliberately guided; they naturally scattered on their own."

"After that, they sealed the sky once more, shutting the door to trap the beasts."

Thus, Zhang Yu had returned to the Research Association to resume his secluded cultivation, solely to search for a countermeasure.

And Zhang Yu could well imagine that with the vault of heaven resealed over the fourth and fifth layers, deprived of the logistical support of the Ten Great Academies and divided and surrounded, the Form Transformation lords of the ten schools had undoubtedly fallen into a disadvantage against the Righteous Qi Alliance.

At this very moment, Zhang Yu continued to look up, his gaze already passing over the scenery of the fourth layer of Kunxu to look toward the fifth layer.

Within the fifth layer, streaks of divine radiance were blazing brilliantly like comets in the night, announcing their existence to the entire world.

Zhang Yu knew that those were the lights of the Form Transformation lords of the ten schools still fighting in the fifth layer of Kunxu. It was precisely because these streaks of divine radiance continued to bloom that the teachers and students of the major academies maintained a glimmer of hope, anticipating victory in the war and awaiting the end of it all.

"This is Lord Nielian, this is Lord Yinquan, and that should be Lord Bloodfall..."

Zhang Yu's gaze swept across those streaks of divine light, finally settling upon the two positioned at the absolute highest point among the numerous lights.

These two streaks of divine light stayed extremely close to one another, conveying a sense of mutual reliance, mutual support, and mutual illumination.

Zhang Yu knew that those were the divine lights representing his two masters, Lord Ciji and Lord Qingmu.

As long as these twin rays of divine radiance still shone, it meant his masters were not yet in mortal peril.

Just then, the sky above the fifth layer flickered abruptly, and a name appeared in the heavens:

Lord Xuepu—dead!

“Lord Xuepu?” Zhang Yu’s heart sank. The moment he saw the name manifest, he immediately turned toward the divine light representing Lord Xuepu—and saw it rapidly dimming, until it vanished without a trace.

“Has another Nascent Soul cultivator fallen?”

“No doubt the Dark Spirit Realm will soon launch another wave of psychological and propaganda attacks.”

Zhang Yu felt the Spirit Realm stir once more into turmoil; the chaos sparked by Lord Xuepu’s death would surely ripple far and wide.

He understood clearly now: time was running out for him.

In a flash, his figure shot forward, racing toward the funeral rites for True Lord Tiansha.

Zhang Yu had made up his mind—he must convince every remaining Core Formation True Lord at Wanfa University to support his battle plan.

No matter what it took!

(End of chapter)