From Black-Hearted Capitalist to Beast of Burden

He remembered!

After transmigrating into this world, he had struggled in the mortal realm, and to squeeze the very last drop of value out of his workers, he had used this exact method!

Set performance targets that were impossible to reach, then weed out those who worked slowly or were getting on in years.

Replace them with newly recruited, younger, and cheaper labor to ensure the entire workshop operated at peak efficiency!

And back then, the ragged, homeless Liu Ruyan had been taken in by him at that very workshop.

She had seen it with her own eyes!

"Damn it!"

Zhou Xuan cursed inwardly, an indescribable fury and sense of absurdity rushing straight to his head!

"Liu Ruyan, you sure learned fast, didn't you!"

"Using my own blade to cut off my own head?!"

At this moment, Zhou Xuan finally understood everything.

The black-hearted capitalist had ended up becoming someone else's beast of burden?

In the end, all of Zhou Xuan's rage dissolved into a silent, bitter sneer.

Meanwhile, at the peak of the main mountain of the Spirit Sword Pavilion.

Inside the mist-shrouded Sect Master's hall, the spiritual energy was so dense it had almost turned into a physical substance.

A middle-aged Daoist wearing black robes with a lean face held a jade slip, a satisfied smile on his face.

He was the current Sect Master of the Spirit Sword Pavilion, a great cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm, Lu Yuanshan.

Below him, Liu Ruyan stood quietly in a moon-white dress, her temperament cold and detached.

"Not bad."

Lu Yuanshan put down the jade slip and looked at his newly accepted personal disciple, who was also the designated next Saintess, his eyes full of approval.

"Ruyan, your optimization plan for the management of the Chore Servant Courtyard is very insightful."

"Bottom-tier dismissal, setting performance targets, stimulating the drive of the low-level disciples, while simultaneously trimming the fat and lightening the burden on the sect."

"Although it is only being implemented in the small Chore Servant Courtyard, if it can be rolled out further, in the long run, it might give the entire Spirit Sword Pavilion a fresh new atmosphere."

"It might even help us unearth some truly usable talent from among these low-level disciples."

Sect Master Lu Yuanshan's voice was gentle yet powerful, every word carrying his affirmation of Liu Ruyan.

"Thank you for the praise, Master. This disciple is merely doing her part."

Liu Ruyan bowed slightly, her voice cold and calm, neither humble nor arrogant.

But her jade-like hands, hidden beneath her wide sleeves, clenched tightly, a surge of triumph rising in her heart.

"Heh."

Lu Yuanshan chuckled, looking at her with deep, thoughtful eyes.

"I am a bit curious. You came from the mortal realm and have only been in our sect for a short time."

"This management technique of survival of the fittest and stimulating potential is quite methodical; it doesn't seem like something an ordinary cultivator would come up with."

"Could it be that you encountered something similar back in the mortal realm?"

The Sect Master asked casually, but Liu Ruyan's heart skipped a beat!

In her mind, the image of that young man in the smoky, fiery workshop—wiping sweat from his brow while spitting as he announced various harsh rules to his workers—flashed uncontrollably.

That figure had once been the only light in her dark world.

But now, he had become the inner demon she had to sever in her pursuit of the Dao.

Liu Ruyan's face turned slightly pale for a fleeting moment, but she quickly suppressed the anomaly.

She raised her head to meet the Sect Master's probing gaze, her cold eyes appearing perfectly composed.

"Reporting to Master, this disciple has never encountered such things."

Her voice was without a ripple, as if she were stating the simplest of facts.

"These ideas were merely born from seeing some chore disciples in the sect who lacked ambition, wasting their time and the sect's resources, and feeling that it was unbearable."

"This disciple believes that cultivating immortality is an act of defying the heavens—competing with the sky, the earth, and other people!"

"Without a heart that strives for progress, even if one is in a sect of immortals, one is no different from a mortal ant."

"Sect resources are precious and should not be wasted on those without hope. A quick pain is better than a long one; only in this way can those with true potential and a heart for the Dao stand out."

Her words were spoken with ironclad certainty and righteous indignation.

"A wonderful 'quick pain is better than a long one'!"

Hearing this, Lu Yuanshan clapped his hands and laughed, the admiration in his eyes growing even stronger!

He sighed, saying with a touch of emotion: "I have managed the Spirit Sword Pavilion for over a hundred years, and I have long wanted to carry out a drastic reform of the long-standing, deep-rooted management practices within the sect."

"It is a pity that the sect is filled with competing factions, where moving one part affects the whole, and I have never been able to make up my mind."

He looked at Liu Ruyan, his eyes filled with expectation.

"Your talent is peerless, your heart for the Dao is resolute, and you possess such foresight; you are truly the fortune of our Spirit Sword Pavilion!"

"Ruyan, cultivate diligently. Once your cultivation advances further and you truly come into your own, I will gradually hand over the management of the sect's internal affairs to you!"

The sect master's words were like a bolt of heavenly thunder, exploding within the lake of Liu Ruyan's heart!

She jerked her head up, her eyes revealing an irrepressible excitement for the first time!

Power!

The title of Saintess was merely the sect's recognition of her talent—a hollow name, a symbol.

But managing the sect's internal affairs was tangible, real power!

It meant she would truly participate in the operation of this massive sect, where her every word and action would influence the fates of countless people!

She had been quite old when she first came up the mountain, and her foundation was far inferior to those heaven-favored children who had grown up in the sect.

Although she had higher talent and cultivated faster, there were still many within the sect who were dissatisfied with her, an outsider, being named the Saintess.

Only by grasping real power could she completely suppress all voices of dissent!

She felt as if she could already see a golden Heavenly Path unfolding beneath her feet!

And Zhou Xuan was destined to be nothing more than an insignificant stepping stone on this path.

Forcing down the joy in her heart, Liu Ruyan took a deep breath and bowed gracefully to the sect master, Lu Yuanshan.

"This disciple thanks Master for the cultivation! I will certainly not fail your high expectations!"

In the Chore Servant Courtyard, Wang Fugui's sharp, mean-spirited voice echoed over the plaza for a long time before slowly fading away.

The crowd did not disperse immediately; suppressed weeping, silent choking, and those blank, hollow gazes together formed a vivid portrait of a living hell.

Zhou Xuan turned silently and retreated into his wooden shack, which had been blasted until only half remained.

He closed the dilapidated door that could barely latch, shutting out all the despair and wailing from the outside world.

The room was very dark, with only a few rays of light struggling to squeeze through the gaps in the wooden planks.

Zhou Xuan stood in the darkness, his face expressionless, but a monstrous storm raged in his heart.

He had originally thought that his greatest enemies were the rules of this world, the high and mighty cultivators, and that damned Spirit Root talent.

Yet in the end, the first person to force him onto a path of death was the woman he had once pulled out of the mud!

Furthermore, she had used the very methods he was most familiar with and found most effective!

"Heh..."

Zhou Xuan let out a low, cold laugh from his throat, the sound filled with mockery.

He walked slowly to the corner of the room and, with a thought, took out everything he had gained today.

The floor was instantly piled with items.

Twenty-two first-tier demon cores radiating chaotic spiritual energy, dozens of first-tier Sharp Metal Talismans, and the remaining cinnabar, beast blood, and wolf-hair brush.

There were also the three treasures he had scavenged from the trash heap, in which he had placed high hopes.

His gaze fell first on the stack of talismans.

The talisman-printing machine plan was the fastest and most reliable scheme he could think of to earn Gold Touch Value.

As long as he had time, he was confident he could save up the one thousand Gold Touch Value needed to upgrade his Spirit Root within three months!

But now, this move by Liu Ruyan had completely disrupted all his plans!

What he lacked most right now was time!