Chapter 326: Dao Heart and Inner Demons

Chapter 326: Dao Heart and Inner Demons

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

As the figure charged toward him like a storm, Zhang Yu's eyes sharpened. He whipped around and unleashed his Formless Cloud Qi in a spiraling blast.

With a deafening

bang

, the two forces of Martial Qi clashed. Zhang Yu staggered back several steps, eyes narrowing as he fixed his gaze on the attacker. “You?”

The one who’d ambushed him was none other than Tian Yang—the team leader who had assigned him this mission.

Feeling the turbulent Mana and surging blood inside his body from the impact, Zhang Yu frowned and thought,

This mission was assigned by Tian Yang himself.

The area’s remote, and I’m the only one stationed here—plus, it’s a blind spot in the surveillance network… Was this a setup?

Did he wait for me to be alone just to strike?

While Zhang Yu's thoughts raced, Tian Yang spoke coolly. “President Wang sends his regards.”

Zhang Yu’s heart jolted.

Wang Yin?

He instantly recalled that wealthy executive from Oasis Group—the same man he’d fought repeatedly back on the First Floor, who later sent people to retaliate against him.

Before he could think further, Tian Yang’s barrage surged forward like a hurricane, launching wave after wave of ferocious attacks. He was clearly aiming to crush Zhang Yu in just a few moves.

The Martial Technique Tian Yang used was called the Storm-Dust Palm, a Technique derived from dust pollution and dust-control work at construction sites.

With every move, his Martial Qi transformed into choking clouds of dust—shifting unpredictably and striking from impossible angles. Just like the all-pervading dust at a construction site, it threatened to smother Zhang Yu completely.

Storm-Dust Palm already combined illusion with force, making it tough to deal with. Against a weaker opponent, it granted absolute control—letting the user toy with the enemy at will.

That’s what Tian Yang thought would happen.

This Zhang Yu shouldn’t last more than ten moves.

But by the fifteenth move, Tian Yang was growing more and more shocked.

Thanks to the synergy between the Time-Wrecking Demon Pupil and the Three-Eyed Divine Sight, Zhang Yu saw through every move Tian Yang made.

But seeing wasn’t enough. After all, Zhang Yu was just a hard-working university student, not a seasoned fighter.

His combat experience and Martial Technique level were far too low to counter Tian Yang’s attacks with skill alone.

But he didn’t

need

to counter them.

Ever since arriving at Wanfa University City, Zhang Yu had understood one thing: while raw fighting power wasn’t as crucial as employability, in a place like Kunxu, you still needed a way to protect yourself.

He simply never had the extra time to develop actual combat skills.

That was, until he acquired the Three-Eyed Divine Sight.

From that moment, he found a new way to fight—one that required neither time nor talent to master.

He called it the “Fifty-Fifty Split Combat Style.” No matter who he fought, he’d aim for a fifty-fifty split.

Now, with a battle cry, Zhang Yu activated the War Demon Life-Draining Technique, rapidly boosting his physical strength.

At the same time, he used the Three-Eyed Divine Sight’s mimicry ability—targeting Tian Yang himself.

In Tian Yang’s stunned gaze, Zhang Yu became a mirror image, using identical moves to counter his every attack.

Tian Yang had still been confident. His own cultivation level should have guaranteed victory through sheer force, breaking Zhang Yu down move by move.

But Zhang Yu’s Formless Cloud Qi was already masterful at dispersing impact. When paired with the force-redirection of Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force, the elemental resistances of the Earth-Wood Saint Body, the reinforced bones of Spiritsteel Alloy Type-20, and the active vitality from the Sacrificial Oxheart Technique…

All of this made Zhang Yu terrifyingly durable in this head-on mirror-match style of combat.

And Tian Yang was definitely feeling it now.

At first, he thought Zhang Yu had learned his Technique.

Did he study Storm-Dust Palm?

Or is he just some genius who copies Techniques on the spot?

But he soon realized that although Zhang Yu’s movements mimicked his exactly, the internal flow of Mana and Martial Qi was entirely different.

Zhang Yu’s Qi focused on dispersing and redirecting impact.

So he’s not copying my Technique—just the motions? Still, how is he tanking all this?!

Zhang Yu’s expression remained sharp, his strikes solid and precise. He looked far from fatigued. His palms felt like iron, and every blow Tian Yang launched just seemed to vanish into nothing.

This kid is built like a damn tank.

Fighting him’s more exhausting than overtime shifts at a construction site.

Who the hell designed this combat system? It’s pure sadism!

Forget it, I’ve had enough…

With a roll of his eyes, Tian Yang stomped the ground and blurred into motion, retreating dozens of meters in an instant.

“That’s enough. Let’s stop here.”

He waved Zhang Yu off, an odd glint in his eye. “No wonder Director Gao has high hopes for you. With a body like that, you’d be a star on the construction crew.”

Zhang Yu eyed him warily. “Weren’t you sent by Wang Yin to get revenge on me?”

Tian Yang laughed. “A buddy of mine from Netherworld University told me Wang Yin

did

want someone to rough you up.”

But that friend isn’t exactly on Wang Yin’s side,

he thought silently.

Righteously, Tian Yang declared, “You and I both study at Wanfa University. We’re both in Civil Engineering. We’re both under Director Gao. Why would I sell you out for some bribe?”

“I just used Wang Yin’s excuse to squeeze a little something out of him... Thought I’d record a fake fight.”

“Didn’t expect you to be so damn durable, though. Meant to just shoot a tense-looking clip, but you tanked my full combo.”

Still dazed, Zhang Yu asked, “So what’s your plan?”

Tian Yang replied, “I pretend to beat you up, send Wang Yin the footage, and then ask for a reward.”

“Once I get paid, I’ll split the proceeds with you—half the Spirit Coins, market rate.”

“Honestly, I need a few things from Netherworld University. If you’re down to keep helping, we can milk him for more.”

As Tian Yang walked off, Zhang Yu still wasn’t sure if he believed any of it.

I’m at Wanfa University, and Wang Yin still hasn’t given up?

In his sea of consciousness, Fu Ji giggled. “When someone’s this obsessed, it’s either vengeance, a money issue… or something deeper. Maybe you’ve shaken his Dao Heart?”

“Your actions back on the First Floor went completely against his style. You ruined his plans. Of course he hates you.”

“If you’ve disrupted his cultivation, become his Inner Demon, it makes perfect sense that he’s this obsessed. You two aren’t just enemies anymore—you’re obstacles to each other’s Immortal Path.”

Not long after, Zhang Yu received a transfer of 0.5 Spirit Coins from Tian Yang.

That’s 0.5 Spirit Coins… earned from Wang Yin himself?

That made it feel even sweeter.

In his sea of consciousness, the white ox let out a spirited bellow. The Sacrificial Oxheart Technique’s flow became even smoother, and Zhang Yu’s vitality surged.

The next day, Zhang Yu roped in Yu Xinghan and Li Xiao to help keep watch as he met up with Tian Yang at their arranged spot.

“What are we filming today?” Zhang Yu asked. “You beating me up again? Want me to cough up blood this time?”

Tian Yang quickly waved his hands. “Combat footage’s only good up to a point. That was already the best we’ll get.”

“This is a university city, after all. I can’t seriously hurt you—Wang Yin wouldn’t believe it even if I did.”

“No, today I want to film you… working overtime.”

…

Netherworld University City.

After leaving the First Floor, Wang Yin didn’t return to Oasis Group HQ. Instead, he went to his mother’s workplace, taking a cushy post to recover from soul injuries.

Having lost the chance to obtain a Divine Spirit Root, he had to start over from the Foundation Establishment Realm using a mere Heavenly Spirit Root.

Seeing his mother again, he was forced to admit she’d been right all along.

“You can’t treat dogs too kindly.”

“Feed them too well, and they forget their place. They try to climb onto the table.”

Every time Wang Yin thought about how his First Floor plans collapsed, and how he lost his shot at a Divine Spirit Root…

A deep, festering hatred surged within him.

“Zhang Yu… and Bai Zhenzhen.”

Though in Wang Yin’s eyes, Bai Zhenzhen was no longer a concern—Zhang Yu, however…

Knowing that Zhang Yu was still at Wanfa University, training, improving, advancing on the Immortal Path every single day—it filled him with rage.

Zhang Yu had become a thorn embedded deep in his heart, making his retraining in the Dao Heart even slower.

He recalled the

Ultimate Martial Intent

of the Emperor’s Heart Technique—refining Dao Heart through godlike wealth, reshaping an entire city, dominating the world.

But back on the First Floor, even with all my wealth, I couldn’t control Zhang Yu’s fate.

A lowly grunt, cultivated by my own hand, who then dared to betray me and sabotage my plan.

Now, even though I’m worth a thousand times more than him… I still haven’t crushed him beneath me.

That thought filled Wang Yin with a sense of suffocation. His cultivation in the Emperor’s Heart Technique stalled again and again.

He knew it now—Zhang Yu had become his Inner Demon. A flaw in his Dao Heart, clashing against his cultivation, his beliefs, his will.

I could try to slowly resolve it through years of mental discipline…

Or I could break him. Humiliate him. Toy with him. Satisfy my vengeance.

Thus, Wang Yin reached out to Tian Yang through a chain of intermediaries.

And not long after, he received Tian Yang’s combat footage.

Watching Zhang Yu’s unyielding performance—his powerful physique, unbreakable spirit—Wang Yin’s brows furrowed.

He sent Tian Yang one Spirit Coin and demanded something more intense: a public humiliation, psychological torture, even a livestream.

Tian Yang rejected many of his terms and proposed a steep new price.

While the two parties argued…

Wang Yin received a second video.

In it, Zhang Yu was working nonstop. Cultivating. Pushing his limits. Growing stronger. Earning more.

His eyes burned with fighting spirit.

Watching it, Wang Yin’s Emperor’s Heart cultivation jammed again, almost painfully.

At the same time, a message from Tian Yang popped up: “If you don’t agree to my terms, I’ll have Zhang Yu working overtime every single day—his cultivation and his bank account both rising nonstop.”