Chapter 707: Kunxu Funeral, Zhang Yu Controls the Scene

Outside the funeral hall, lines of text jumped out from Zhang Yu's eye sockets.

"Welcome to the Life Graduation Ceremony of Heavenly Slaughter True Lord. May I ask if you are a friend/family member or a visitor?"

Zhang Yu knew that the so-called visitors were those who paid an admission fee to tour Heavenly Slaughter True Lord's funeral and could at most observe from the outer area.

Only friends and family could truly enter the inner area, actually participate in the funeral, and bid on the deceased and various items from his lifetime.

The criteria for becoming a friend or family member were also simple: in addition to the admission fee, one had to pay a gift of money as a deposit for the auction.

After paying the gift money, Zhang Yu walked directly into the hall, where he was greeted by one projection after another about Heavenly Slaughter True Lord.

As the main subject of this funeral and the target of the friends and family's bidding, Heavenly Slaughter True Lord's life story, as well as his achievements, awards, certifications, positions, salary, and other accomplishments, were all listed in detail.

As Zhang Yu scanned these projections, he unknowingly came to understand the entirety of Heavenly Slaughter True Lord's life.

……

Heavenly Slaughter True Lord was a farmer's son.

Born into a tenant farmer's family, a poor family, he understood the importance of making money from an early age.

To make money, he had farmed, worked as a laborer, served as a waiter, learned martial arts, and acted as an escort.

Because he was intelligent and had extremely high talent in martial arts, he was accepted as a disciple by a martial sect of the time.

But Heavenly Slaughter True Lord was not satisfied; from a young age he had fierce ambition and desire, and had an obsession with fame and fortune far beyond his peers.

So after cultivating a body of superior martial arts, he participated in the military examinations, defeating all opponents along the way, and eventually became the Military Champion of that era. He personally led the imperial army to suppress the various martial sects, becoming a great demon that everyone in the martial world feared to speak of, and also became a famous imperial general of the time.

In the process of suppressing the martial sects, the desire and ambition in Heavenly Slaughter True Lord's heart constantly drove him, making him want to become stronger and master greater martial power.

So he plundered the martial scriptures of various sects, and finally created a technique that surpassed mundane martial arts, a technique that could enter the path of immortality. At the age of one hundred, he stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm and gradually came to know the immortal world above the mundane world.

At that time, the immortal world was still feudal and ignorant, adhering to ancient customs, adopting a reclusive posture, and not appearing directly in the mortal world.

Afterward, relying on his exceptional intelligence and combat ability, Heavenly Slaughter True Lord burned, killed, and plundered his way through the immortal world, raising his realm amid life-and-death crises and amassing wealth.

But the times were also changing. In the years when Heavenly Slaughter True Lord was climbing the peaks of the immortal path, the immortal world gradually merged with the mortal world, and various sects embraced the world with a more active and aggressive stance.

By the time Heavenly Slaughter True Lord eventually joined Wanfa University, he was already a high-ranking member of a mercenary group, had participated in several sect war projects, and had a brilliant professional record.

But just as the sect wars were raging and the mercenary market was at its peak, Heavenly Slaughter True Lord had already seen the crisis beneath the prosperity.

He believed... that as the Ten Great Sects increasingly standardized and normalized the construction of Kunxu, mercenaries would sooner or later exit the historical stage.

"My rise is inseparable from the help of the times. It was because I happened to follow the tide of the era—the fusion of immortal and mortal, the sect wars—fighting fierce battles all the way, that I could ride the wind and ascend to the clouds."

"But from the perspective of great historical cycles, war is not an eternal theme. Some cultivators nowadays, because they were born during wartime, cultivated during wartime, and rose during wartime, think that war is the eternal theme of the world. This is wrong."

"This kind of thinking is like that of the old cultivators in the past, who thought that reclusive carefreeness and the separation of mortal and immortal were the eternal appearance of this world. All of this ignores the objective laws of changing times."

"Now, we have reached the eve of another transformation of the times."

"The era of war is over."

"The education industry is the future sunrise industry of Kunxu."

"To keep walking on the path of immortality, adapting to the times is the top priority."

Thus spoke Heavenly Slaughter True Lord at that time.

Therefore, to adapt to the changes of the times and the market, Heavenly Slaughter True Lord decided to prepare early. Ignoring the astonished looks of his colleagues and family, he studied the education industry.

Afterward, with the attitude of a pure newcomer, he started from scratch and cultivated in the education industry for many years, transforming his martial habits into the ability to teach and educate people. Eventually, he joined Wanfa University and step by step became the department head of the Security Department.

……

Watching these projections, Fuji said, "They're really bragging. It's to drive up the auction price; they're praising Heavenly Slaughter True Lord to the skies."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "After all, he's a famous Nascent Soul cultivator. It's understandable. For example, when buying corpse parts produced by Huilong Garden below, they at most report the size and parameters; they wouldn't care about the corpse's life experience."

Zhang Yu's gaze swept over the projections, and he saw that besides some life experiences, they also listed Heavenly Slaughter True Lord's famous techniques.

One of them was a military-grade technique of the Security Department, named the Harmless, Kill-less, Touchless Fist.

As the signature technique of the Security Department, this fist technique emphasized controlling the opponent without causing any harm, or even without any contact, cutting off the opponent's mana circulation and disarming them.

And with this technique, Heavenly Slaughter True Lord once achieved the astonishing record of a hundred battles and a hundred victories, but zero kills and zero injuries, becoming a dazzling achievement on his resume.

Besides, the Heaven Slayer True Lord had also received training from a sect, where he once learned a true inheritance-level immortal sect technique called the *Sky-Spanning Divine Speed Sutra*, which was said to grant him the ability to always seize the initiative, boasting a terrifying speed of attack.

After finishing the introduction of the Heaven Slayer True Lord’s various deeds and abilities, the final projection that appeared before Zhang Yu displayed a list of the items up for auction in this sale.

Remains, corpse vessels, Dharma artifacts, eye vessels…

Spirit Realm browsing history, video collection history, Spirit Realm posts, Spirit Realm photo albums, Moments…

All the items used by the Heaven Slayer True Lord during his lifetime, along with the information they generated, now appeared before Zhang Yu as commodities.

“As expected of a Nascent Soul True Lord who keeps up with the times,” Zhang Yu mused. “Not only did he not delete his browsing history with his last breath before death, but he specifically left it to be auctioned. This funeral is so much more Kunxu-aligned than Brother Dao’s funeral.”

As Zhang Yu passed through the list of items, he truly entered the funeral venue.

There, the remains of the Heaven Slayer True Lord stood like a statue at the center of the funeral.

Within a hundred meters of the center was the inner area of the funeral, where mourners could closely observe, touch, or even examine the deceased.

Beyond a hundred meters was the outer area, where visitors could only watch the funeral from a distance.

When Zhang Yu arrived at the inner area, he saw that many Nascent Soul True Lords from Wanfa University had already gathered.

Apart from familiar faces from the Artifact Refining Department such as String Tone True Lord, North Sea True Lord, and Thunder Extreme True Lord, there were also Heavenly Chapter True Lord from the Talisman Department, Miraculous Hand True Lord from the Medical Department, Taihe True Lord from the Investment Management Office, and many others.

At that moment, all these Nascent Soul True Lords wore grim expressions. Before Zhang Yu even approached, he could feel a heavy atmosphere pressing down on him, as though undercurrents were surging, ready to tear apart anything that came close.

Under his Nine Nether Demon Eye, Zhang Yu could see that every Nascent Soul True Lord present was continuously transmitting and receiving massive amounts of Spirit Realm information with one another.

“Although outwardly they aren’t speaking…” Zhang Yu thought. “The Nascent Soul True Lords here are already engaged in fierce exchanges.”

However, this kind of communication was limited to the senior Nascent Soul True Lords of Wanfa. The other cultivators present, especially those in the outer area, could not participate, nor could they even know a single bit of the content.

Just as Zhang Yu was wondering how to join in, he saw that Thunder Extreme True Lord had sent him a message.

This junior disciple of Magnetic Pole Divine Lord first greeted Zhang Yu, then pulled him into a group.

Zhang Yu glanced at the group name: “Temporary Discussion Group for Heaven Slayer’s Funeral.”

As soon as Zhang Yu entered, he heard String Tone True Lord’s angry shout coming from the group.

String Tone True Lord: “Have you all gone mad? You want to retreat at a time like this?”

Miraculous Hand True Lord said calmly: “String Tone, the Heavenly Demon has already withdrawn from the Great Void. Now that Bloodfall Divine Lord has fallen, the Netherworld University’s retreat is only a matter of time.”

“Once both universities withdraw one after another, it’ll be a rout—the later we pull out, the greater the losses.”

String Tone True Lord snorted and said: “The various Deity Transformation cultivators may need our support at any moment. If we retreat and cause this battle to be lost, the fifth layer shattered and the Heavenly Court unable to descend—who will bear that loss?”

Miraculous Hand True Lord sighed and said: “String Tone, I know your Artifact Refining Department has bet everything on Magnetic Pole, but… it’s time to give up on illusions.”

Miraculous Hand True Lord said word by word: “If Magnetic Pole and the others could break through the heavens and reopen the passages between layers 3, 4, and 5… they would have done it long ago!”

“They are going to lose.”

“We are about to lose.”

“If we lose, we must bear the responsibility of defeat, show the spirit of defeat, and formulate new tactics based on failure as the premise.”

Hearing Miraculous Hand True Lord’s words, many True Lords from the Artifact Refining Department spoke up in rebuttal.

Thunder Extreme True Lord even shouted: “Miraculous Hand! I think you just want to seize power and take advantage of the situation. Do you think we can stay out of trouble after retreating? Or have you already decided to surrender?”

Miraculous Hand True Lord said calmly: “Look at yourselves now. You’re all like gamblers who have lost everything, desperately clinging to the last shred of hope, betting everything on a chance to turn things around.”

“Sorry, but I have no interest in dying with you. If you don’t want to retreat, then we’ll retreat on our own.”

With Miraculous Hand True Lord’s words, the Nascent Soul True Lords present split into two factions. One faction, mainly from the Artifact Refining Department, swore to stay in the Great Void, unite the schools, and prepare to support the Deity Transformation cultivators—they could be called the Stand-Fast Faction.

The other faction, mainly from the Medical, Dao Arts, and Security Departments, was larger in number, believing that the battle situation was already decided and that preparations should be made early to minimize losses—they could be called the Retreat Faction.

The two sides argued and cursed each other. The Stand-Fast Faction believed that retreating meant admitting defeat, and accused the Retreat Faction of intending to surrender to the Righteous Alliance.

The Retreat Faction believed that the Stand-Fast Faction had lost their minds and that persisting would lead to total ruin.

Just as the argument was growing fiercer, a voice rang out in the group.

Heaven Slayer True Lord: “Everyone, listen to me. Let’s discuss things properly and not lose our harmony.”

Thunder Extreme True Lord: “Heaven Slayer, don’t speak. The dead are the least among us—you’re just a wisp of yin soul that Miraculous Hand managed to salvage. You have no say here.”