Chapter 43 : The Inescapable Fate of a Corporate Wage Slave
Chapter 43: The Inescapable Fate of a Corporate Wage Slave
Very soon, a simple yet sufficiently practical isolation formation was set up inside the room.
After all, this was merely a breakthrough at the Qi Refining stage, so the formation’s primary function was just to block excessive external noise, as well as interference from stray spiritual energy or divine sense unintentionally released by low-level cultivators.
The goal was nothing more than peace of mind, to avoid being accidentally disturbed.
Long Tao took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged at the center of the formation.
When he raised his eyes, he saw Luo Yusi’s massive spider body lightly move in front of him.
Six slender yet powerful walking legs bent gracefully as she steadily lay down.
Immediately after, she slightly opened her mouth and began to spit out strands of nearly transparent, supple silk.
Long Tao could clearly sense that these threads did not directly touch his body.
Instead, they cleverly relied on the faint circulation of spiritual energy within the formation, weaving and coiling through the space one chi away from him as if they were alive, forming an invisible yet tangible protective net.
For some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of reassurance—and even… a subtle, indescribable anticipation of being quietly bound by something dangerous yet alluring.
By the time the silk-spitting was complete, Luo Yusi’s cheeks had already flushed red.
A little embarrassed, she softly explained,
“Daoist Friend Long, please rest assured. These threads will not touch or interfere with you in the slightest. But during the breakthrough, if there are any signs of your spiritual energy going out of control, I’ll be able to sense it immediately through them and guide it, dispersing the chaotic energy at once… If you’re lucky, you might even finish regulating your breath the same day and attempt it again.”
“So that’s how it is! This method is even more reliable than the human race’s protectors!” Long Tao exclaimed.
“I actually harbored doubts just now—that really shouldn’t have happened. Then… I’ll be relying entirely on you, Daoist Friend Luo!”
Spider Sister nodded shyly and said no more.
Both of them closed their eyes, calmed their minds, and officially began the breakthrough.
The first stage was called Hundred Meridians Spirit Infusion.
It required forcibly draining all the painstakingly accumulated, nearly overflowing spiritual energy from the meridians throughout the body, then injecting it with resolute force into the tiny vortex that had formed at the center of the dantian during the Nine-Vortex Return Flow stage, thereby triggering a phenomenon known as Spiritual Energy Collapse.
This was precisely why Long Tao had previously spared no expense in consuming the precious pills gifted by Nan Yuchen, desperately filling the acupoints and meridians throughout his body to the brink of explosion.
The total quantity and purity of spiritual energy injected during this stage directly determined the future scale and potential of the dantian qi sea—it was truly the foundation of foundation establishment.
Any sect disciple with even the slightest ambition would empty their entire fortune at this stage in pursuit of perfection.
If not for the windfall he had obtained from Nan Yuchen, Long Tao would definitely still have had to run around for a long time just to gather these resources.
……
Time passed quietly.
After roughly more than half a shichen, abnormalities began to appear in Long Tao’s body as he sat in meditation.
Wisps of blood slowly seeped from his seven orifices, and clearly visible, densely packed blue-purple meridian patterns—like a spiderweb—surfaced across his skin.
The sight was rather terrifying.
However, Luo Yusi, who had been silently guarding him all this time, did not panic at the sight.
On the contrary, a relieved and gratified smile appeared on her non-human face.
She knew very well that these were the standard signs of the successful completion of Hundred Meridians Spirit Infusion.
With the spiritual energy in all the meridians being drained in a short time, the capillaries naturally could not withstand the sudden pressure change, leading to bleeding from the seven orifices.
As for the spiritual energy patterns appearing on the body surface, those were a normal projection produced externally when the Spiritual Energy Collapse in the dantian was successfully triggered and began autonomously drawing in power.
After about another incense stick’s worth of time, accompanied by a long, exhausted exhalation, Long Tao finally slowly opened his eyes.
He casually wiped away the blood beneath his nose and at the corners of his eyes, glanced at the vivid red on his fingers, and showed not the slightest panic.
It was only the intense weakness brought about by the instant draining of his meridians that made it difficult for him to stand up on his own.
Fortunately, Luo Yusi was highly experienced.
Several strands of spiritual silk immediately extended gently, firmly supporting his arms and back, helping him up and guiding him to sit down on a chair nearby.
“Phew… many thanks, Daoist Friend Luo,” Long Tao said.
His voice was clearly fatigued, but his tone was filled with excitement.
“Once I regulate my breath until the afternoon and recover some strength, I’ll push through in one go and complete Sea-Eye Stabilizing the Origin as well! When the time comes… I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you once again.”
“That’s no problem,” Luo Yusi replied softly, her six eyes looking at him with concern.
“This stage is best done in one continuous effort anyway. Daoist Friend Long, rest and regulate your breath in peace. I’ll come back in the afternoon to protect you.”
……
Just as Long Tao was dragging his exhausted body, preparing to return to his room to meditate and recover properly, a steady, unhurried knock suddenly sounded from outside the courtyard gate.
Thinking that Luo Yusi probably wasn’t good at dealing with strangers, he forced his still-weak legs to move, slowly made his way to the courtyard gate, and pulled it open.
Standing outside was a male cultivator with an unfamiliar face, dressed in inner sect disciple robes.
Long Tao searched through his memories and confirmed that he definitely did not know this person.
He instinctively assumed the man was here to look for the spider siblings and was just about to turn around and call out when the cultivator spoke first, his tone quite polite,
“May I ask—are you Junior Brother Long Tao?”
“Huh?” Long Tao froze for a moment and quickly responded, “Y-Yes, that’s me. May I ask, Senior Brother, what business brings you here?” He muttered inwardly, wondering how an inner sect senior brother could be personally coming to look for an obscure outer sect disciple like himself.
The male cultivator revealed a faintly formulaic smile and stated his purpose.
“Oh, I’m a disciple under True Person Shi from the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion. By my master’s order, I have a small matter I’d like to discuss with Junior Brother Long. I wonder if now is a convenient time?”
Heavenly Pivot Pavilion? True Person Shi?
Those words struck Long Tao’s head like little hammers, leaving him somewhat dazed.
The Heavenly Pivot Pavilion was the sect’s nominal administrative core, a place that directly answered to the Sect Master.
Although in a major cultivation sect like the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, such an institution that handled mundane affairs did not wield overwhelming real power, to trash like him at the Qi Refining stage, it was still an existence far beyond reach—something he could only look up to.
As for the “True Person Shi” the other party mentioned, there could only be one person—the Sect Master’s right-hand aide, that decisive, iron-handed female Golden Core True Person! In his previous life, she would absolutely have been a domineering female CEO, a ruthless executive secretary with real authority.
“If it’s for a short while, that’s fine,” Long Tao replied, “but could I trouble Senior Brother to give me a hint first? I’m just a Qi-Refining Fifth Layer cultivator—how did I catch True Person Shi’s eye?”
Truthfully, Long Tao wasn’t too worried.
Judging from this senior brother’s polite attitude, it definitely wasn’t anything bad.
Moreover, since the other party hadn’t even reported his own name, it was probably nothing major—likely the kind of thing that could be explained in just a few sentences.
The disciple seemed to have expected this question.
His smile remained unchanged as he said,
“Oh, it’s like this. Some time ago, Junior Brother Long completed a cleanup task in the Windless Cliff area, didn’t you? The mission record report you submitted afterward happened to be seen by my master. She was quite impressed with that report, so she specifically instructed me to inform you that, in the future, whenever Junior Brother completes any sect task, your report documents may be submitted directly to the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion.”
Long Tao was dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open for a long time without closing.
He never could have imagined that it would be something like this! This kind of plot… sounded rather inspirational, didn’t it? Ever since joining the sect, he had written his reports extremely seriously and in great detail after every task—a habit carried over from his work life in his previous world.
He never expected that after five years in this cultivation world, he would be noticed by upper management of the company—ah no, the upper echelons of the sect!
If it weren’t for all the maddening mess with the System, he probably would have laughed out loud right now.
This was a golden opportunity to get on the radar of the higher-ups!
But after thinking it over, it seemed… not that big a deal? At most, he’d just be submitting reports to a different place in the future—maybe the process would be a bit more troublesome? Yet immediately after, a far more terrifying thought suddenly drilled into his mind……
The Heavenly Pivot Pavilion… a place like that… damn it… could it be that they had taken a fancy to his slight ability to write official documents, planning to use him like livestock and groom him into a new corporate “ox-horse”?!
The muscles on Long Tao’s face twitched.
Carefully, probing, he asked,
“Senior Brother… if, I mean if… True Person Shi… on the off chance, just on the off chance, she really took a liking to my insignificant document-writing skills… she wouldn’t, later on…”
Before he could finish speaking, the inner sect senior brother immediately showed a sympathetic look that said, Brother, I get you.
He patted Long Tao’s shoulder with full understanding and interrupted him,
“I figured Junior Brother was a sensible person—seems I don’t need to say much more.” He sighed, his tone carrying a hint of shared misery.
“Anyway… I’ve delivered the message. Anyone my master takes an interest in—unless you make up your mind to betray the sect—then the work she assigns… there’s absolutely no way to avoid it.”
He paused, looked at Long Tao’s instantly collapsing expression, and then awkwardly tried to comfort him.
“But Junior Brother, don’t be too despairing. To be honest, with your mixed spiritual roots aptitude, being able to leave your name at the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion is still a fortuitous opportunity. On the cultivation path, aside from those true heaven’s chosen, who isn’t gritting their teeth and struggling upward? Working is working no matter where you do it. Try to think more positively.”
These words completely confirmed Long Tao’s ominous premonition.