Translator: AL_Squad Editor: Chrissy

Hai Yunfan really didn’t want to do it.

Being a secretary did not dissatisfy him. In fact, as a cultivator born in the royal family, Hai Yunfan’s recognition of the post of secretary was far higher than that of the ordinary people.

His spirit root qualification was not the best. After the Immortal Gathering, Spirit Sword Sect recommended him to the Ten Thousand Arts Sect for this reason. Later on, he had better development prospects in Ten Thousand Arts Sect. However, compared to the lead disciples like Zhan Ziye and Wang Lu, the gap was tremendous.

Hai Yunfan knew that it was difficult for him to reach the end of the road of immortal cultivation. He had even deduced his own future. He concluded that he would probably be stuck at the junction between Yuanying Stage and Deity Stage. If luck was on his side, he might reach the middle-level Deity Stage. If he wanted to go further, he could only resign himself to fate.

Of course, such achievements were not bad. Even in the Ten Thousand Arts Sect, they were excellent, but how could they compare themselves with the work that he was engaging now?

He didn’t look like he was just working for a mere Jindan Stage Daoist Master; the status of this Jindan Stage Daoist Master was no less than that of top-level Supreme in the general sense, comparable to the Sect Leaders of the top rank sects. Thus, the Elders of common sects should be polite to Wang Lu. Many people would die for the opportunity to be the secretary of such a person.

Since Wang Lu’s power was too big, the resources he could use were almost all top-quality. Even if he went through the formal channels, the resources he could get were still eye-catching, not to mention through informal channels.

Of course, he took informal channels to reimburse resources, not for his own selfishness—the resources consumption of Wang Lu’s cultivation of Non-Phase Method and Primal Chaos Heaven Piercing Sword were not that big—however, there were many ideas and programs about the Grand Competition which were difficult to implement through formal ways. Thus, they could only do it through resources interception and investing it in the experiment.

The power and efficiency of the general planning of the Organizing Committee of the Grand Competition did not bother Wang Lu, but most people absolutely cared about it. In immortal cultivation, resources were the top priority and most people lacked in resources. The only people who had unlimited resources even for the five super sects of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals were the sect leader, lead disciples, and some senior elders. Other ordinary elders had to make their own efforts if they wanted resources.

Wang Lu’s power was so astonishing that if Hai Yunfan, as his personal secretary, truly worked on it, the benefits he could get were almost unlimited. During this period, people asked him to do things endlessly, even his wife, Ye Feifei, was among them.

However, he really didn’t want to do it now.

Not that he lacked benefits, but he lacked self-esteem. He could not keep up with the working pace of his superior, and he lacked the courage to continue to enjoy the current special treatment.

Wang Lu’s work was simply too fast for him.

One moment he was bantering with his Master in his office, the next moment he decided to leave the City of Immortals and have a talk with Xuan Mo. This fellow really did not regard himself as a leader. He didn’t do the work at hand, but instead, he wanted to meet with the Earth Immortal without even making an appointment. Just like a door-to-door salesman.

For other people, contacting the Earth Immortals at will in private must be arrested for questioning, whether there was any attempt for betrayal. Fortunately, he was Wang Lu, and the possibility for betrayal was not high. However, procedurally, his private contacts did not differ from the rebellion.

Thus, to reduce the trouble, someone needed to make this unprocedural behavior to conform to the procedure—this someone was certainly not someone else but secretary Hai Yunfan.

The various procedures for Wang Lu have already given Hai Yunfan a big headache. More troublesome thing was that Wang Lu was too difficult to serve. He was unwilling to appreciate the hard work of his staff. Just as he left his foot out of the door, he immediately turned back and called Hai Yunfan.

“Let’s go together.”

Hai Yunfan immediately asked back, “You will see the Earth Immortal, why do you want me to go with you?”

Wang Lu curiously said, “As a secretary, you shouldn’t be too lax. How could a leader make a visit without his secretary?”

“If I leave with you, who would do the formalities for you?” Hai Yunfan tried to argue.

Wang Lu just waved his hand instead. “Write a letter to Supreme He Tu and ask him to help you.”

“What the… do you really think you are the illegitimate son of Supreme He Tu? Do you think others should help with this kind of thing?”

Wang Lu looked at Hai Yunfan. He shook his head and sighed. “Little Hai, you have become so boring since you got married. You might as well leave now.”

Hai Yunfan was so angry that he almost burst out laughing. “By the tone of your voice, it sounds as if I betrayed you when I got married.”

“Pfttt hahaha!” Wang Wu’s unrestrained laughter burst out from the side. “Sure enough, we indeed have a love affair! I’ll make sure this word got out!”

Wang Lu was too lazy to deal with her, but at the same time, he could not resist teasing Hai Yunfan, “If you want to stay, you wouldn’t be able to cherish the beauty of going out on a business trip, but instead, you’ll have to wash diapers for your children all your life.”

With that, instead of insisting on Hai Yunfan to come with him, he pulled Wang Wu with him to go out from the City of Immortals and head straight for the brilliant galaxy.

Recently, the only core content of the Immortal Tombs seemed to be the City of Immortal. In fact, the basic function of the Immortal Tombs was still there. Many small worlds constantly sprung up and shattered within the galaxies. This took in and sent out a huge volume of Nine Region’s spiritual energy.

Similarly, there were a lot of cultivators who were looking for immortal fate in these small worlds. Grand Competition was indeed the current main theme in Nine Regions, but many people who could not take part in the competition still carried out their own cultivation.

It was not the first time for Wang Lu to come here. He stopped for a moment before the swirl of stars as he recalled the coordinate he recorded when he previously went to the Heavenly Earth. He placed his hand forward and went deep into it.

However, at this point, a voice suddenly came behind him.

“Wang Lu, what are you doing here?”

Coincidentally, it was Xuanmo who came. Wang Lu turned around and smiled. “Of course, looking for you.”

Xuanmo sighed and said, “Are you looking for someone by breaking and entering? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

Wang Lu curiously asked, “Did you bury mines in front of your home? Is this the fashionable decoration style of the Earth Immortals?”

“… In any case, what are you looking for?” Xiao Mo said while watching Wang Wu with a slightly vigilant look. She then reached out and put her hand in the swirl of stars, only to hear a loud dragon-like sound from it, and then before their eyes emerged exactly that Heavenly Earth.

Wang Lu laughed and turned to his Master before saying, “You lose.”

Wang Wu looked unhappy as she said, “Unexpectedly this guy didn’t move out.”

Xuan Mo was clever. When she heard this, she raised her eyebrows and immediately realized that they were betting that she had not moved out since she woke up from the long sleep and was suddenly speechless. “You guys… do you even have time to do these things?”

Wang Lu said, “I’ve been busy, but this time I have something important to talk to you.” While saying that, he entered Xuan Mo’s world in a great stride.

Seeing that Wang Lu’s attitude seemed to not have changed, Xuan Mo felt better instead.

After a few months, there seemed to be little change in the Heavenly Earth. The segregation between men and women was still the same as before. However, this was not because Xuan Mo still adhered to extreme sexism, but because she had little interest in her own business. For her, it was just like a flat palace.

“What are you looking for?” Xuan Mo received Wang Lu and Wang Wu in her palace, the supreme heaven in the Heavenly Earth. It was a palace with magnificent glory but secluded and quiet.

Xuan Mo acted as the host, serving the two guests with scented tea as she asked for their purpose.

Wang Lu went straight to the point. “In this Deity Stage battle, how are you going to fight?”

Xuan Mo was silent for a long time. “That’s a joke, right?”

They came to her house to ask such a confidential question. Were they trying to rouse suspicion around their peers?

Wang Lu said, “I want to know if you want to compete for victory or to determine life and death?”

Xuan Mo then realized what Wang Lu really wanted to ask.

“… From my point of view, of course, the battle is to determine the victor, not life or death. Others have no different opinions at present.”

This answer was relatively optimistic, but it did not satisfy Wang Lu. “Are you not their leader? Do you need to be so careful when speaking? Aren’t you the one deciding things?”

Xuan Mo said, “You should’ve seen that it was not me.”

Wang Lu nodded. “If it’s not you then good. Strictly speaking, I like you very much. I don’t want to count that account with you.”

Xuan Mo didn’t care much about Wang Lu’s liking, but she was a bit gloomy about Wang Lu mentioning about the account. “Black didn’t do it intentionally.”

Wang Lu laughed, “Don’t tell me it’s just a slip of the tongue? Does it mean that everyone knows that it was intentional?”

Xuan Mo was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your decision; what’s the use of your apologies?”

Xuan Mo was a bit tired in her reply. “You’re right… But Black has abandoned that plan and it should never happen again. Facing the Fallen Immortals, we should work together.”

“That’s right, so I’m surprised that the person who made that decision really arrived with that decision.” Wang Lu seemed hesitant. “Cutting the knot quickly is a plausible theory. If you can win with an overwhelming advantage quickly, the internal friction will be smaller than that of a stalemate. But, there is more than one theory that makes sense, why should he choose the one with the greatest risk? Has he not considered the morale of the situation and what would be the retaliation from the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals?”

“Black… is indeed such a person.” Xuan Mo said, “He only wants results and seldom considers any repercussions. As for the retaliation… before the competition, nobody thought you would do that.”

Wang Lu smiled. “You mean how could I do that? Is this not your turn to say that? I only killed two of you, but you guys have at least killed ten times as many. But there was no talk before the previous one. Is it not convenient to tell me the story in detail this time?”

Xuan Mo obviously didn’t want to talk too much. Thus, Wang Lu put down his cup, looked at her intently. He then said his words one after another.

“I don’t trust Black, so I don’t trust you guys who trust him. Based on this distrust, it’s very difficult for me to get a good grip on it. You said you had abandoned the killing plan, but your voice didn’t count. I can’t believe it then.”

Xuan Mo was in a dilemma because Wang Lu was very reasonable, and she could not refute it at all.

Others would probably turn a deaf ear to Wang Lu’s threats, but Xuan Mo would not.

Especially when there was Wang Wu standing behind Wang Lu.

“… I understand; I will talk to Black about this… thing.”

However, this placed Xuan Mo on a tough predicament.