Chapter 1438 - 868: The Fire Spreads

Originally, because of salary suppression, a large number of Soul Cultivators, in order to save Immortal Coins, almost never left messages in the Spirit Realm.

But now, more and more Soul Cultivators were leaving messages in the Spirit Realm, letting Cultivators hear their voices.

At the same time, because of the impact of the薪火 on the entire market, a large number of Cultivators, in order to observe the薪火, and thereby observe Soul Cultivators, began to notice their existence.

More and more people... were forced to take Soul Cultivators seriously, to see their薪火, to hear their voices. Soul Cultivators were gradually becoming a presence in the Spirit Realm of the Old Graveyard that could not be ignored.

At this moment, a trace of realization flashed through Ye Xingli’s heart: "The original contempt for Soul Cultivators, all kinds of rendering them invisible and screening them out, maybe it wasn’t just cultural disdain, but involved some form of influence tied to Dao struggles, a deliberate attempt to suppress the influence of Soul Cultivators?"

"And now, this configuration has been changed."

...

Inside the live room.

Looking at Zhang Yu, standing beneath the sky full of薪火, holding the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority in his hand, whether it was Xiao Yunhe, the chairman of the Management Committee, or vice chairpersons like Xie Lanyin and Xie Xue, all of them felt a tremor in their hearts at this moment.

Although Xiao Yunhe had already harbored all kinds of doubts and conjectures before, now that he personally witnessed the existence of the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority, a shock tinged with absurdity still flashed through his heart.

"Wanfa Sect... really just handed such a salary-increase authority to Zhang Yu?"

"No, this isn’t because Zhang Yu was able to get something like the ’Unlimited Salary Increase Authority’ approved... eight or nine times out of ten, it’s because of Bu Yingshu."

Xiao Yunhe had originally thought that the struggle between himself and Bu Yingshu used the entire Old Graveyard as a chessboard, the two sides each holding pieces, each laying out their formations, slaughtering one another on this board.

But in the situation before him now, in Xiao Yunhe’s view, it was as if Bu Yingshu had directly summoned a great hand to overturn the entire board.

As a Level 7 Sect Affairs Officer, a senior Cultivator within the sect, Xiao Yunhe knew all too well the gold content of the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority; he understood the horror and influence it carried.

As long as the other side was willing, and disregarded any post-facto settlement, this current round of salary increases was far from the limit.

Xiao Yunhe finally understood why Bu Yingshu didn’t personally seize power, but instead had Zhang Yu stand at the front.

"Afraid that from the very beginning, she had already prepared to get hold of the ’Unlimited Salary Increase Authority’, which is why she assigned Zhang Yu to come over and carry out a whole series of groundwork."

"Because the power of the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority is too great, yet the risk is also extremely high. By having Zhang Yu stand at the front, it both allows the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority to be wielded and avoids her being subjected to the reckoning."

"Once the deed is done, if any problem arises, she can just push Zhang Yu out."

Thinking this, a wave of bitterness rose in Xiao Yunhe’s heart: "We lost. Bu Yingshu, this woman of the Ten Thousand Laws Immortal Clan, is unfathomable... This battle, from the very start, we were already defeated by her."

Thus at this moment, Xiao Yunhe, a Tribulation Crossing Realm Cultivator, facing Zhang Yu, who was inferior to him in both rank and cultivation realm, could not help but give birth to a slight intention to retreat, a thought of temporarily avoiding the edge.

"I’m not backing down from Zhang Yu; I’m yielding because of the one behind him... that figure of extremely high status and profoundly scheming mind, Bu Yingshu."

"This woman now indirectly holds the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority, and must not be opposed head-on."

In an instant, Xiao Yunhe and the others had already shut off the livestream, left the scene, and disappeared without a trace.

They knew that continuing to confront Zhang Yu would only enhance the publicity effect for the other side.

But Xiao Yunhe had no intention of simply giving up, nor of surrendering.

After all, at their cultivation realm and rank, with Dao Hearts so stable, they could not lightly speak of giving up when encountering trouble.

What’s more, the Taoist Inheritance behind them had long since been determined; there was almost no possibility of switching routes. If they didn’t continue to resist at this moment, it would only displease the higher-ups behind them.

So in an instant, Xiao Yunhe had already exchanged via the Spirit Realm with vice chairpersons like Xie Lanyin and Xie Xue, completing tens of thousands of information exchanges.

They discussed countermeasures, one plan after another being proposed, discussed, revised, and finally finalized in a flash.

"The optimal plan is for us to also apply for resources from above."

Xie Lanyin thought to herself: "Zhang Yu has already gotten the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority. How are we supposed to fight relying only on our own resources? Only by similarly inviting intervention from the upper levels can the situation be rebalanced."

Thus Xie Lanyin directly sent a message to the Kurong Child, wanting to obtain resources from the upper echelons of the White Bone Sect, to use in the Old Graveyard to counter Zhang Yu.

The Kurong Child, as the chief Soul Cultivator under Bai Gusheng, was also Xie Lanyin’s key channel of communication with the higher-ups.

After receiving Xie Lanyin’s message, the Kurong Child replied quickly: I’ve seen it; it really is the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority. But that’s not a reason for you to plan to raise salaries for Soul Cultivators and hand out benefits

Xie Lanyin: My lord, Zhang Yu holds the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority; if we don’t do this... how are we supposed to contend with him?

Kurong Child: If you don’t have money, does that mean there’s nothing you can do? Can’t you think of other countermeasures? Stop always thinking about making the sect spend money; think about how to make money for the sect

Xie Lanyin: These Soul Cultivators are shortsighted, they can’t see the industry ecosystem, they ignore the bigger picture; they just follow whoever throws money at them...

Kurong Child: Enough, the higher-ups already understand your situation. As for specific countermeasures, once they’ve discussed it, they’ll notify you

Xie Lanyin: My lord, money is a god of speed! The market here is changing every second; if we’re late, it’ll be too late

Ending the call, Xie Lanyin felt a powerful sense of injustice.

On Zhang Yu’s side, they directly handed out the Unlimited Salary Increase Authority, while on their side, not a single coin was being released—how the hell were they supposed to fight like that?

"What exactly are the people upstairs thinking? If they keep dragging this out... are they planning to abandon the Old Graveyard?"

On the other side, Xiao Yunhe and the others were also sending applications up the chain, but just like with the White Bone Sect, they had yet to receive any definite response.

They could only grit their teeth and step forward, launching a public-opinion offensive and putting up some resistance.

On one hand, they spread the line that Zhang Yu’s salary increases were fake raises, fake benefits; on the other hand, they forcefully cobbled together some perks—for example, making all the Yang Artifacts and Yin Artifacts of leaders and Sect Affairs Officers open for free, allowing the Soul Cultivators of their subsidiary companies to deposit items at no charge.

Xiao Yunhe and the others knew this was better than nothing at best; for Soul Cultivators... the attraction definitely couldn’t compare to salary increases.

But even if it was barely better than nothing, they could only continue to resist.

Yet the effect of this wave of publicity still turned out even more disappointing than Xiao Yunhe and the others had anticipated.

"It’s almost completely ineffective..."

Looking at the data appearing before his eyes, Xiao Yunhe’s heart shook: "The Soul Cultivator support rate for Zhang Yu inside the Old Graveyard has already surpassed 90%..."

And Xiao Yunhe quickly discovered why their public-opinion offensive was even more useless than expected.

Because Soul Cultivators—a vast number of Soul Cultivators—were, in a way never seen before, speaking out all over the Spirit Realm of the Old Graveyard, creating a flood of information related to salary increases.

"Minister Zhang really did raise our salaries!"

"Old Salary King [Fire]"

"He’s different!"

The massive outpouring of Soul Cultivator voices directly drowned out the public-opinion offensive of Xiao Yunhe and the others, making their propaganda efforts vanish like stones dropped into the sea, barely causing a ripple.

"Has our market share already reached 9.8%? How long has it even been?"

Xiao Yunhe knew that as time went on, this wave of surging growth would continue, until all the Soul Cultivators working as temps had jumped ship to Zhang Yu’s side.

Then, as the long-term-contract Soul Cultivators finished their contracts one by one and also moved over to Zhang Yu, the market share would likely reach a terrifying level.

Xie Lanyin’s projection hastily fell in front of Xiao Yunhe: "What do we do? At this rate, there’s no stopping him at all!"

Xiao Yunhe: "We negotiate."

Xie Lanyin: "Negotiate?"

Xiao Yunhe: "We go talk to her."

Xie Lanyin’s brows furrowed: "What do you mean? We go beg him to stop raising salaries?"

Xiao Yunhe said, "Not beg—negotiate. If she keeps raising salaries, she also earns less. We can offer some conditions, concede some of the market, and get her to stop raising salaries."

"Even if the talks fall through, we might still be able to drag things out."

At the same time, Xiao Yunhe had already sent a message to Bu Yingshu: "Lord Bu, if this continues, it’ll be bad for everyone. Can we sit down and talk? Please show some mercy. Name whatever conditions you want."