Chapter 651: True Immortal Stocks, Chief Engineer

Deep within the Spirit Realm.

Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord and Zhang Yu stood amidst a blue sky and white clouds, while below them lay the 671st layer of the Myriad Laws University City.

However, Zhang Yu knew that this was naturally not the real university city in the material world, but an illusion within the Spirit Realm, a simulated environment.

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord beside him, gazing at the bustling university city below, spoke slowly: "Zhang Yu, what do you think of the university city now?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said: "The principal leads wisely, and every student strives upward with vigor."

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord laughed heartily and said: "Well said—'everyone strives upward with vigor.'"

"As for these thirty-six layers of Kunxu, the trouble lies precisely in these four words: 'strive upward with vigor.'"

As the Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord moved his mind, the light and shadows around the two shifted in an instant, as if zooming in the lens, bringing them directly to the top of the 671st layer.

Gazing down at the construction site where workers moved back and forth, constantly busy, the Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord remarked indifferently: "Look at this construction site—doesn't it resemble a microcosm of Kunxu, a little Kunxu?"

"These workers toil their entire lives, frugal every day, with only one goal in mind: save money, cultivate the Dao, and achieve immortality."

The surrounding light and shadows continued to change. Following the Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord, Zhang Yu saw in the illusion Yu Xinghan working hard to sell, Shi Huaiyu hauling mud and sand, and Shi Yunxiang moving garbage...

"From birth, it seems their lives have only this one task: save money and cultivate immortality."

"They begrudge food, sleep, rest—pouring all the money they save into the path of immortal cultivation, hoping only to achieve something on that path, to live longer, to earn more money."

"Save money, spend money, save money, spend money—they rely on this endless spending to go further on the path of immortal cultivation."

"As a result, if one person spends 10 spirit coins, another spends 12, the amounts grow larger, the spending increases, until they are all eliminated together."

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord looked at the student carrying bricks in the illusion before him and said calmly: "I call these people immortal-cultivation gamblers."

"They hope to save money and then gamble on themselves... They have no idea who their opponents truly are."

"The immortal path is a struggle, and these people, from the moment they are born, are destined to be eliminated by the real experts."

Before Zhang Yu's eyes, he saw workers who were withered and thin, constantly replacing inferior dharma bodies, barely clinging to life.

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord continued: "The Dharma Realm gives everyone a chance."

"It ensures that the money they save all their lives does not go down the drain, amounting to nothing in the end."

Zhang Yu's gaze sharpened as he saw that the barely surviving workers, through the Dharma Realm, sold their techniques, sold their cultivation, sold their realms...

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord said: "These immortal-cultivation gamblers had no potential to rise anyway. The Dharma Realm provides them with a way out, allowing them to exchange their cultivation for money, to recover part of their losses."

"And those with real potential to climb upward can, through this method, cultivate faster and ascend the immortal path more quickly, struggling to rise."

"This allows the most promising people in the entire society to cultivate, allocates cultivation resources more reasonably through market mechanisms, and also gives those immortal-cultivation gamblers a more suitable investment direction."

At the same time, lines of text and data appeared before the Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord and Zhang Yu, much like a stock market listing.

But when Zhang Yu looked closely, he found that the stocks on this list were not companies, but individuals—familiar names like Tiansheng Gong, Dao Qiankun, and Kuang Tianqing.

The various data behind these names represented different dimensions measuring the level of cultivation.

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord said: "When the Dharma Realm is established, when cultivation can be transmitted through the Dharma Realm, true immortal-cultivation stocks will be born."

"Anyone can invest their cultivation in these stocks."

"Even a junior college student can invest their cultivation in Dao Qiankun or Kuang Tianqing, letting them manage it."

"Geniuses can rapidly accumulate cultivation and climb upward."

"Gamblers can invest their cultivation in geniuses of the same realm, sharing in the benefits of the geniuses' cultivation."

"Everyone works together to drive the cultivation growth of the entire society, shares in the dividends of cultivation growth, and optimizes resource allocation in Kunxu."

The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord sighed: "And this immortal-cultivation stock is just one small application of the Dharma Realm."

"When the Dharma Realm is truly established, similar applications will develop wildly, society will undergo tremendous transformation, and the development of immortal cultivation technology will accelerate once more. Every cultivator's cultivation, realm, techniques, magic tools, dharma bodies—everything—will experience explosive improvement."

"And Zhang Yu..." The Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord looked at Zhang Yu and said, "You can now become the one who initiates all of this."

Looking at Zhang Yu, who was deep in thought, the Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord smiled slightly. In his eyes, various materials and data appeared beside Zhang Yu, ultimately forming an extremely detailed psychological profile that could help him persuade Zhang Yu in the most suitable way.

After listening to the Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord's introduction, Zhang Yu's mind was deeply shaken with surprise.

He could feel that if the Dharma Realm developed, it would completely shatter the current pattern of immortal cultivation. The meaning and implications contained within were far from being describable in a few words.

Zhang Yu had originally thought that when faced with a choice among Immortal Sect techniques, aside from considerations of his own interests, he would have to choose between which one was worse for the world and which one was even worse.

But at this moment another thought surged in his mind: "Can I really judge which one's impact is worse?"

"Just the Dharma Realm before my eyes alone—what it involves regarding its impact on the world—I'm afraid no one can consider every aspect clearly."

"The proliferation of Immortal Sect technical knowledge and the consequences it brings… I'm probably completely unable to assess them. This isn't just a problem with the techniques themselves, but also how they are applied."

At the same time, Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord's brow furrowed ever so slightly, and he muttered inwardly, "The beggar has arrived."

……

At the same time.

Elsewhere in the Spirit Realm, an avatar of Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord slowly descended, looking at the group of Nascent Soul cultivators from the Four Schools of Heavenly Demons before him, including Free and Unfettered Divine Lord and Jade Nectar Divine Lord.

"Free and Unfettered." Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord looked at him coldly and said, "I'm afraid Ten Thousand Transformations is too old, that his signal isn't sensitive enough—he might have misdelivered the message or failed to hear clearly what you said."

"Now, say it again to me in front of everyone."

Free and Unfettered Divine Lord said indifferently, "Heavenly Evolution, I think you're the one who's getting senile. I'll say it again right now: if you insist on building the Dharma Realm, then all of us will unite and attack your Wanda Gang."

Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord: "Do you think the higher-ups will just watch you take that kind of action?"

Free and Unfettered Divine Lord: "Do you think the higher-ups will just watch you build this Dharma Realm?"

In the Spirit Realm, surging data and information rushed in like a tsunami.

It was countless streams of asset data, military data, cultivator data, soul cultivator data… like an armed parade, frantically displaying both sides' assets and combat power.

Along with the collision of data, the atmosphere on the scene grew increasingly tense, as if at any moment it might trigger an economic crisis, a price shock.

Just then, several divine lights representing Heavenly Sword, Vajra, and Immortal Soldier descended.

The principal of Immortal Soldier University chuckled and said, "Can't fight, can't fight. If you fight, how will everyone make money? Do me a favor and sit down for a talk."

"Hmph," said Free and Unfettered Divine Lord. "What benefits did Ten Thousand Methods give you to make you help him like this?"

None of the three principals of Heavenly Sword, Vajra, and Immortal Soldier naturally said a thing.

But even if they didn't say it, Free and Unfettered Divine Lord knew it was nothing more than trading technology for markets, joining the Dharma Realm construction, and ultimately sharing the profits.

At the same time, between the principals of the four major universities—Ten Thousand Methods, Immortal Soldier, Vajra, and Heavenly Sword—countless streams of information were flowing at high speed, carrying on an intense exchange.

Vajra University principal, Precious Appearance Divine Lord: Building the Dharma Realm is fine, but all data from Vajra University and its subordinate schools must be stored locally and kept by us.

Heavenly Sword University principal, Heavenly Star Divine Lord: Free and Unfettered Divine Lord really has the guts to go bankrupt. With this much pressure, I think the share ratio needs to be renegotiated.

Heavenly Star Divine Lord: Ten Thousand Methods' victory relied on Seven Emotions' disciple, didn't it? She had already made an agreement with your Ten Thousand Methods beforehand.

Immortal Soldier University principal, Forge Star Divine Lord: I think all underlying technology of the Dharma Realm must be open source.

Watching the statements from each principal, Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord gave a cold laugh in his heart.

Fight?

Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord knew that they were still far from the time to start a fight.

If the Four Schools of Heavenly Demons really wanted to fight, they would have launched a silent sneak attack.

All this grand fanfare was nothing more than using force to push for negotiations.

Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord said in a clear voice, "The Dharma Realm is the most suitable choice. Or do you think the Immortal Sect techniques you want—do you believe you won't oppose each other over them?"

"Fine, bring them all out for a walk. Let's see who can come up with a plan better than Ten Thousand Methods' proposal."

Time in the entire Spirit Realm space accelerated rapidly. As the eight Nascent Soul Divine Lords communicated, countless bits of information surged intensely.

Free and Unfettered Divine Lord: "No way! Zhang Yu cannot be locked up by you. He must be jointly guarded by all of us. We must be able to communicate with Zhang Yu at any time."

"If not, then we start fighting now."

With Free and Unfettered Divine Lord's opposition, a far-off university college exploded with a boom. A raging financial storm swept through the entire school, turning countless teachers and students into ashes.

Heavenly Evolution Divine Lord said coldly, "Don't you understand how important Zhang Yu's safety is? Besides, the students of our school are not for you to control."

"If you want to fight, then fight! What is bankruptcy? I'll fight you till you die in this life, then chase you into the next life and keep fighting."

"Free and Unfettered, for the rest of my remaining lifespan, I won't do anything else—I'll just hunt you down. Do you dare?"

With the threat of the Tianyan Divine Lord, surging information flows wildly in the spiritual realm. For a time, the token price of Tianmo University skyrocketed, and after the finals ended… one by one, the teachers and students who had been shorting with leverage were detonated. Countless people at that moment turned into a beam of divine light and shot into the sky.

Thus, fighting while talking, talking while fighting, accompanied by constant competition and balance… the exchanges among the eight Nascent Soul cultivators soon yielded a phased result.

…