Chapter 24: The workplace competition is too fierce!

Cultivation knows no time.

For Mortals, a month might be long, but for Cultivators, it is but the time of a nap.

However, this month was longer and more agonizing than being fried in the eighteen layers of Hell for ten thousand years for Tantai Jinyue, who was studying in the "Death Row Cram School" in the backyard of the Nine Heavens Carefree Immortal Palace, and the remnant Soul of Demon Venerable Wanhua, who was forced to be the miserable Homeroom Teacher!

"Rumble—!"

On this day, above the Taixuan Main Peak, large patches of thunderclouds gathered once again in the originally clear sky.

This was the Lightning Tribulation that a Cultivator must undergo when breaking through a major Realm!

However, an extremely hilarious and bizarre scene occurred.

Just as the thunderclouds had formed and the Laws of the Heavenly Dao had just poked their head out, they seemed to catch a whiff of the aura of a certain "anonymous big shot in a bathrobe" emanating from the immortal palace below.

"Swoosh—!"

That massive patch of thunderclouds was like a mouse seeing a cat; it didn't even dare to strike down a single bolt of lightning. It extremely skillfully and smoothly dissipated in mid-air into a few harmless white clouds, as if saying: "Keep doing what you're doing, I'm just passing through."

The Heavenly Dao ran away again.

Meanwhile, by the Spiritual Spring Bath in the backyard of the immortal palace.

"Buzz—!"

An extremely pure, overbearing, and even terrifying demonic might carrying a hint of Mahayana Stage Dao charm burst forth from the body of Tantai Jinyue, who was sitting cross-legged!

This pressure was so strong that it directly formed a pillar of dark red Devilish Qi light above the immortal palace, piercing straight into the sky!

Void Returning Stage!

Moreover, it was a flawless, extremely solid Foundation, fused with the Mahayana Stage Origin—Void Returning Early Stage Peak!

Tantai Jinyue slowly opened her eyes. In those originally crimson eyes, a faint shadow of dark golden Divine Elephant Particles was actually circulating!

This month, under the unreserved "force-fed" teaching of an old monster like the Mahayana Stage Demon Venerable Wanhua, and the influence of the hint of Ultimate Blood Qi occasionally leaked by Lin Yuan, she had not only perfectly refined that Mahayana Sarira but also completely fused her own Blood Lotus Demonic Scripture with the power of the Divine Elephant, embarking on an unprecedented path of a supreme Demon God!

"Finally... a Breakthrough!"

Tantai Jinyue stood up, feeling the power within her body that was like a churning sea, more than ten times stronger than her Peak three hundred years ago. Tears of excitement welled up in her eyes.

At her feet, the palm-sized purple Soul body—Demon Venerable Wanhua—was now as exhausted as a completely squeezed-out sponge, slumped on the ground with his eyes rolling back.

"This old servant... this old servant has fortunately not failed the mission..." Demon Venerable Wanhua's voice was as weak as a thread. A dignified Mahayana overlord had been forced into becoming a 996 corporate slave ox.

"Elder Wan, you've worked hard." Tantai Jinyue expressed her gratitude to this tutor, which was extremely rare.

Then, she tidied up the pink maid dress that was a bit messy due to the Breakthrough and, with extremely elegant steps, came before Lin Yuan, who was lying on a red sandalwood lounge chair with his eyes closed, resting.

"Thud."

Tantai Jinyue knelt on both knees and kowtowed extremely respectfully, her voice filled with endless fanaticism and gratitude:

"Young Master! Your servant has fortunately not failed the mission and has broken through to Void Returning within the one-month limit! From now on, wherever the Young Master's sword points is where your servant's heart belongs! In the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, if anyone dares to be disrespectful to the Young Master, your servant will surely extract their Soul, refine their spirit, and pull them out by the roots!"

These words were murderous yet humble to the extreme.

A dignified Void Returning Stage powerhouse, an existence at the level of a regional hegemon even in the Central Plains, was now willingly giving a debriefing report as a maid serving tea and water.

Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes and looked Tantai Jinyue up and down.

"Hmm, your aura is restrained, and your demonic core is pure. Although it's only the Void Returning Early Stage, with that one Divine Elephant Particle I lent you, you could blow up even a Void Returning Stage Great Perfection with one punch."

Lin Yuan nodded with great satisfaction, "Get up. Go brew a pot of tea for me; my mouth is a bit dry after that nap."

"Your servant obeys!"

Receiving the Young Master's praise, Tantai Jinyue was even happier than when she unified the Demonic Cult back then. She immediately ran off to boil water and brew tea with great proficiency.

Beside the lounge chair.

The Extreme Cold Ice Dragon, which had been coiled up acting as an automatic cooling scarf, now had its large, doll-like dragon eyes staring fixedly at Tantai Jinyue's seductive back, a strong sense of—workplace crisis—flashing in the depths of its eyes!

"Oh no! This is bad, bad, bad!"

Xiao Bing roared frantically in its heart, "This woman actually managed to break through to the Void Returning Stage within a month! And the dark golden blood Qi belonging to the Master on her is getting thicker and thicker!"

"Even though I'm a Soul Transformation Stage Great Perfection true dragon, I'm just a mount and a cold air blower! This woman's combat power has soared; not only can she fight, but she can also brew tea, massage shoulders, and wash clothes! If this continues, what will happen to my status as the 'Number One Immortal Pet of the Nine Heavens Carefree Immortal Palace'?!"

Workplace Involution in the cultivation world is just that cruel!

"No! This dragon must perform a meritorious deed! I must present an absolute supreme treasure to the Master to solidify my status!"

Xiao Bing's dragon eyes darted around frantically, searching through its tens of thousands of years of brain capacity.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit its mind!

"I've got it! The [Forbidden Sea] in the deepest part of the Shenhuang Continent! I remember that in the Undersea Divine Palace there, a supreme treasure that can condense the Origin of the world's extreme cold water is suppressed—the [sea god abyss pearl]!"

"I heard that group of old seafood in the Forbidden Sea treats that pearl like their lifeblood! If I steal it and give it to the Master, not only will the Master have a cool breeze in the summer, but he can also soak in a true top-grade ice spring! The Master will surely look at me in a new light!"

Thinking of this, Xiao Bing took advantage of Lin Yuan's nap and extremely carefully slid down from the lounge chair.

With a "whoosh" sound.

It turned into an ice-blue extreme cold ray that was almost impossible to catch with the naked eye, instantly vanishing into the void and racing frantically toward the [Forbidden Sea] at the end of the Shenhuang Continent!

To compete for favor, this ten-thousand-year-old ice dragon was going all out!

...

Half a day later.

Lin Yuan had just finished the third pot of spiritual tea brewed by Tantai Jinyue.

"This damn dragon, it's been gone to the bathroom for so long?" Lin Yuan touched his empty neck. As a modern transmigrator, he was slightly unaccustomed to an afternoon without air conditioning.

Just then.

"Bang!"

The void in the backyard of the immortal palace suddenly shattered extremely violently!

A battered figure, with several ice-blue dragon scales even bearing charred bloodstains, tumbled out of the void and crashed heavily onto the floor beside the Spiritual Spring Bath, creating a large crater.

"Ouch, my old dragon back... those old seafood really hit hard..."

Xiao Bing struggled to climb out of the crater, its originally crystal-clear little dragon horns even having half a section broken off. Although it was at the Soul Transformation Stage Great Perfection, there were countless ancient monsters hidden in the Forbidden Sea. It was only able to escape back alive because of the abnormal speed and resilient Physical Body of a true dragon.

"Where did you go to pick through trash? You've made such a mess of yourself."

Lin Yuan looked at the ice dragon rolling on the ground, his brows twitching slightly, "Who beat you into this state? Give me their names, and I'll go tear down their home later."

Hearing his Master's extremely protective words, Xiao Bing was so moved that tears "streamed" down!

"Master! Xiao Bing didn't go picking through trash! Xiao Bing went to find a top-grade summer cooling treasure for you!"

Xiao Bing crawled to Lin Yuan's feet in an extremely sycophantic manner and then opened its mouth.

With a "blegh" sound.

A strange treasure pearl, only the size of a walnut and deep blue in color, as if it contained an entire endless ocean within it, was spat out and presented extremely respectfully before Lin Yuan.

The moment this deep blue treasure pearl appeared.

"Buzz—!"

The water-attribute Spiritual Qi within the entire Nine Heavens Carefree Immortal Palace instantly surged frantically at a terrifying speed! Even the water in the Spiritual Spring Bath beside it, which was powered by a Gathering Spirit Formation, actually surged upward uncontrollably, as if worshiping this treasure pearl!

In front of this treasure pearl, the temperature within a hundred-mile radius plummeted, yet it carried an extremely moist and refreshing sea breeze aura.

The moment the remnant Soul of Demon Venerable Wanhua, lying on the ground, saw this pearl.

That purple old face instantly twisted into an extremely terrified "囧" shape, and he let out a shrill scream like a cat that had its tail stepped on:

"[sea god abyss pearl]?!?!"

"You crazy dragon! You... you actually dared to go to the Forbidden Sea and steal back the 'life-prolonging formation core' of those Ancient Sea Gods?!"

Demon Venerable Wanhua was completely losing it, pointing at Xiao Bing, his Soul body trembling violently.

Lin Yuan picked up the deep blue treasure pearl that was emitting a cool sensation with some curiosity: "Old Wan, is this thing very valuable? What are you so excited about?"

"Master! This is more than just valuable! This is life-threatening!"

Demon Venerable Wanhua hugged Lin Yuan's slipper in extreme despair and wailed:

"In the depths of the Forbidden Sea, there sleep several supreme sea race taboos who have lingered since the primordial era! Because their Lifespan is exhausted, they can only rely on the Origin water Qi emitted by this [sea god abyss pearl] to lock in their blood Qi and hang onto their last breath! This is equivalent to their 'Sea-Fixing Divine Stone' that maintains their life!"

"This dead loach stole it; those Ancient Sea Gods will definitely go insane! This is a blood feud of extermination that will never end!!!"

Demon Venerable Wanhua was truly scared now.

Although his Master was invincible, those old monsters in the Forbidden Sea were existences that even he back then didn't dare to easily provoke! If they were to come out in full force, the entire Eastern Desolation would be submerged by seawater!

However.

As a modern transmigrator, after listening to this tearful explanation, Lin Yuan only silently complained in his heart: "After all that, it's just an ancient pacemaker."

On the surface, he gave an extremely flat "Oh."

He tossed the [sea god abyss pearl] casually in his palm.

That refreshing coolness spread from his palm throughout his body; it was simply ten thousand times more comfortable than the top-tier air-conditioned rooms of his previous life. Most importantly, the water Origin emitted by this thing could also automatically nourish the Physical Body.

"This cooling effect is indeed much stronger than you, this broken dragon that pants all day."

Lin Yuan praised Xiao Bing with great satisfaction.

Hearing this, Xiao Bing's injuries didn't even hurt anymore. It proudly raised its half-broken dragon horn and glanced at Tantai Jinyue: "See that? This is called irreplaceable value! This is called solving the Master's problems!"

Lin Yuan casually threw the [sea god abyss pearl], which was enough to trigger a world-ending war in the Shenhuang Continent, into the Spiritual Spring Bath beside him.

"Plop."

As the Abyssal Pearl entered the water, the originally ordinary spiritual spring water was instantly transformed into top-grade Sea God Jade Liquid! A layer of materialized icy mist even condensed on the water's surface, looking beautiful and ethereal.

"Not bad, the water temperature for bathing will be just right from now on."

Lin Yuan yawned, "As for those Ancient Sea Gods... if they want to come back and ask for this Sea-Fixing Divine Pearl, let them come and get it themselves. It just so happens that my immortal palace is still missing a few pillars to stabilize the sea. If it's a large fish bone, it might be barely usable."

Demon Venerable Wanhua: "..."

Tantai Jinyue: "..."

Using a supreme treasure that prolongs the lives of ancient powerhouses to regulate bathwater temperature?

Treating those taboo existences that have lived for a hundred thousand years as building Materials for a house?!

This is the true, unvarnished, ultimate dimensional reduction flex!

"Young Master is domineering! If that group of seafood dares to come, your servant will be the first to slice them into sashimi for the Young Master to have with his wine!" Tantai Jinyue expressed her loyalty with extreme fanaticism; with her Void Returning Stage cultivation now, her confidence was skyrocketing.

And while Lin Yuan was extremely comfortably enjoying the "Sea God Pearl Brand Automatic Constant Temperature Bath."

In the extremely distant eastern horizon.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!"

A terrifying sound of a tsunami, like the end of the world, crossed an endless distance and came rolling from the end of the world!

The Disciples of the Taixuan Dao Sect looked up in horror.

They saw that the originally azure eastern sky was now completely obscured by a towering, pitch-black—towering Inverted Sea!

The entire half of the Eastern Desolation's sky was forcibly swallowed by the endless seawater!

Within that inverted black ocean, countless deep-sea giant beasts as large as mountains and Yaksha sea tribes holding tridents were like a dense black cloud, crushing toward the direction of the Taixuan Dao Sect with world-destroying extreme rage!

"Who is it?! Who dares to steal this god's Abyssal Origin Pearl?!"

An extremely ancient, hoarse, terrifying roar, sounding like two rusted iron plates rubbing together, boomed from the depths of that inverted ocean!

The pressure contained in this voice surpassed Soul Transformation, surpassed Void Returning, and even faintly touched the edge of the Mahayana Stage!

That was a true ancient Foundation that had lived for a hundred thousand years!

"Hand over the Abyssal Pearl... hand over that thief ice dragon..."

"Otherwise... this god will today make the entire Eastern Desolation Continent completely sink beneath the Nine Serenities Sea Trench! Let billions of living beings become this god's funeral sacrifices!!!"

Following this roar.

The protective formation above the Taixuan Dao Sect, the moment it came into contact with that inverted seawater, let out an extremely piercing corrosion sound. With a "crack," a huge fissure was actually forced open!

"Oh my dear mother and fourth uncle's grandmother!"

Immortal Master Qingxu, who had just repaired the formation using the wall bricks of the Mahayana Demon Venerable, looked at the black ocean in the sky that was about to submerge the entire world. His legs went weak, and he extremely skillfully knelt on the ground with a "thud" once again.

He cried with tears and snot flowing, letting out the most desperate and shrill broken-voiced wail of his life toward the direction of the back mountain's immortal palace:

"Old Ancestor, save us!!! Our family's immortal pet... went out and caused a heaven-sized disaster! The Sea God has brought the shrimp soldiers and crab generals of the entire Eastern Sea, and they're going to submerge our ancestral graves!!!"

...

Nine Heavens Carefree Immortal Palace, backyard.

Listening to Immortal Master Qingxu's pig-slaughtering-like howl.

Lin Yuan picked his ear with some impatience. He sat up from the lounge chair quite leisurely, looking at the black seawater in the sky that was extremely arrogantly inverted, blocking his sunbathing.

"Covering the sky like that, this group of seafood delivery guys sure put on quite a show."

Lin Yuan was barefoot, stepping on the floor paved with ice jade.

He extremely casually reached out and grasped the hilt of the Ancient Ominous Sword [zhutian], which had been hanging at his waist as a decoration, nurtured for a full three years and one month, and had never truly been unsheathed.

"Jinyue, Xiao Bing, prepare a large pot and boil some water."

Lin Yuan's voice was extremely flat, but in those deep eyes, an extremely terrifying ultimate sword light that even heaven and earth trembled at flashed through.

"We're having seafood hotpot for lunch today. I want to see if these old turtles who have lived for a hundred thousand years taste good when sliced."

"Clang——————————!!!"

Along with the falling of Lin Yuan's words.

The [zhutian] ominous sword, which had been nurtured to the extreme, let out an extremely high-pitched supreme sword cry in its scabbard, as if it could pierce through the thirty-three layers of heaven!