Back in the executive suite—his private cultivation chamber—Sun Yi was running simulations. He was trying to debug the Split Spirit Technique and the dual-dantian architecture simultaneously. He had pulled every relevant white paper from the Scripture Library, cross-referencing ancient code with modern theory, but he kept hitting runtime errors. The theory was sound, but the implementation was… buggy.

Seven days burned away in a flash of productivity.

Down in the operations center of the Internal Affairs Hall, the atmosphere was frantic but controlled. The staff were pulling all-nighters, processing the massive influx of assets from the Myriad Demon Forest while simultaneously handling the flood of loan applications. It was a logistical nightmare.

If Changqing hadn’t brought in temporary contractors to handle the data entry, the entire department would have crashed.

In the main conference room, Changqing and Elder Qin Chu presided over a status update meeting.

“Vice-CEO Changqing,” a steward said, sliding a jade slip across the table. Despite being a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator—technically far superior in rank—his posture was deferential. “Here is the finalized Q3 inventory report. Please review.”

Changqing scanned the data with a practiced eye, checking for discrepancies, before passing the tablet to Elder Qin Chu.

“Director Qin, do you have any amendments?” Changqing asked, maintaining protocol.

Qin Chu waved a hand dismissively. “The Chairman put you in charge of operations. You have full autonomy. I’m just here for compliance oversight.”

The Elder leaned back, looking content. He had realized quickly that management was a headache best outsourced to professionals. Why micromanage when he could sit back, collect his dividends, and focus on his own cultivation? Sun Yi was right: delegation is the key to efficiency.

Changqing nodded, accepting the authority. He turned to the assembled managers. “Excellent work this week. HR, issue a memo: All staff who worked overtime during this crunch period will receive quintuple points for those hours.”

“Thank you, Vice-CEO! Thank you, Director!”

The mood in the room lifted instantly. 5x overtime pay was unheard of in the cultivation world.

“Manager Zhao,” Changqing pivoted, his tone sharpening. “Your team is the bottleneck for the Miscellaneous Arts Hall. Ensure their supply chain remains uninterrupted. If production halts because of missing materials, it will be on your performance review.”

Manager Zhao straightened, patting his chest. “Understood, sir! I guarantee zero downtime.”

“Manager Ye,” Changqing continued. “The Exchange Center is facing heavy traffic. I’m assigning you to manage the queue and ensure liquidity. No errors.”

“Guaranteed, sir!”

“Dismissed.”

The meeting adjourned, and Changqing immediately headed for the executive wing.

He found Sun Yi deep in thought, surrounded by floating holographic notes. Changqing placed the master inventory list on the desk with a bow.

“Sect Leader, the finalized asset list.”

Sun Yi scrolled through the manifest, raising an eyebrow. “I hear you’re running a tight ship down there. even Elder Qin Chu is singing your praises.”

“It is all thanks to your mentorship, sir,” Changqing replied humble.

“I gave you the playbook, but you’re the one executing the plays,” Sun Yi corrected, smiling. “You’ve exceeded my KPI expectations. Keep it up.”

“I will not let you down!” Changqing beamed. To go from a nameless servant to the Vice-CEO of a major corporation was a dizzying ascent, and he knew exactly who he owed his loyalty to.

Sun Yi dismissed him and turned his attention to the list. He let out a low whistle. The sheer volume of assets was staggering. The acquisition of the Myriad Demon Forest’s resources had effectively turned Qingyun Sect into a market leader overnight.

He spent two hours cherry-picking the best assets for his personal portfolio. He drafted a requisition order and pinged Changqing.

“Changqing, I need a specialized delivery. Here’s the shopping list. Expedite it.”

“Consider it done.”

Watching his secretary hustle away, Sun Yi leaned back, satisfied. This was the life. No more grinding in the dungeons for scraps. He was the CEO; he just had to sign the purchase order, and the loot came to him. It was efficient. It was… awesome.

Within the hour, Changqing returned with a high-capacity storage ring.

Sun Yi inspected the goods. If a Golden Core cultivator saw this stash, they would weep blood from envy.

First, the luxury consumables: Third-grade Bodhi Leaves and Spirit Water. Combined, they created a brew far superior to the standard Calming Tea—essential for maintaining mental clarity during long coding sessions.

Next, the supplements: A Millennium Blood Spirit Ginseng. This was typically reserved for refining high-tier pills, but Sun Yi planned to eat it raw. It was wasteful, inefficient in terms of alchemical yield, but highly efficient in terms of time. He wasn’t running a pharmacy; he was running a race.

Then, the hardware drivers: One thousand Thunder-attribute demon cores. One thousand Wind-attribute demon cores. All Tier 2.

Each core was worth a thousand spirit stones on the open market. Sun Yi was about to burn millions in capital just to force-install the Wind Thunder Step through sheer brute force. If he couldn’t simulate the energy naturally, he would saturate his environment with so much elemental particles that his body would have no choice but to adapt.

He also checked the bio-enhancements: Second-grade Blood Spirit Fruits and third-grade Thunder Spirit Grass. Body tempering materials. He had essentially embezzled the entire stock from the expedition.

Finally, at the bottom of the ring, lay the prize: The corpse of a Mi Luo Beast.

It was the only specimen they had recovered. Sun Yi stared at the creature that naturally possessed two dantians.

“Time to start the autopsy,” he muttered, summoning a set of dissection tools. “Let’s see how your hardware is wired.”