Artifact Refining

Longxiang Taixue Academy. It was one of only four taixue academies across the entire Jiuxiao Domain, a realm of four hundred million people. Among the Nine Cauldrons Sect's 151 taixue academies, it ranked among the top fifty. Every year, over five million candidates took the examinations in the Jiuxiao Domain, yet fewer than five percent gained admission to those four academies. The rest either resigned themselves to ordinary lives or continued studying at higher academies, biding their time before turning twenty-two to take another shot at the Nine Cauldrons Sect's examination. Every student who stepped through the doors of Longxiang Taixue Academy could be considered a favored child of heaven. After graduation, ten percent entered the Nine Cauldrons Sect, truly joining the privileged, core ruling class among the land's 8.8 billion people. Another forty percent entered the energy sector, securing an iron rice bowl with the energy administration. Even the remaining fifty percent dispersed into society as elite professionals, their starting salaries typically exceeding one hundred thousand. Consequently, as Yaoguang walked through the academy grounds, every young face he saw radiated high spirits, confidence, and boundless hope for the future. After asking for directions, Yaoguang arrived at a small, five-story building tiled in red. Red Building No. 3. At the entrance was an electronic gate equipped with facial recognition. Yaoguang contacted Professor Lin Sen, whom he had scheduled an appointment with earlier. Before long, the electronic gate slid open, and the two walked inside. This sight made Zong Yan, who had accompanied him, realize that Yaoguang had likely looked into this project well in advance. It was far from as simple as the casual "looked into it" he had claimed. Reaching the upper floor, they found a man in his forties or fifties wearing black-rimmed glasses waiting by an open office door. Upon seeing Yaoguang's youthful appearance, he froze for an instant, though surprise gave way quickly to understanding. In an age of immortal cultivation, anything was possible. As long as an elder past sixty was willing to take pills or practice youth-preserving arts, they could easily pass for a young man in his twenties. No scholar here would make the amateur mistake of judging someone by their face. "Mr. Yaoguang! After communicating several times through the Virtual Spirit Realm, I finally get to meet you in the flesh. We have much to discuss regarding this topic. Please, come inside." Lin Sen enthusiastically gestured him in. The office was modest in size. Spanning only about thirty square meters, much of the room was crowded with materials of every description. Some were paper books, but the majority were storage jade talismans packed with data. In addition, several imaging devices rested on electronic workbenches etched with formation patterns. One of the projections displayed the glowing phantom of a flying sword. "This is..." Zong Yan took a look and quickly recognized it. "The Xianying 50?" It was a product of the Xianying Institute under the Flying Sword Department of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Artifact Refining Hall. Classified as a superior eighth-tier dharma artifact, it was infamous for its heavy spirit consumption. Word was that its cost-performance ratio fell short of the seventh-tier flying swords from the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace, and when it came to energy conservation, it could not even match the seventh-tier flying swords of the Great Sun Sword Sect. "Actually, it's the Xianying 60, though research and development isn't finished yet," Lin Sen explained with a glance at Zong Yan. "It seems Professor Lin found the materials I sent over somewhat useful?" Yaoguang asked. "Extremely useful," Lin Sen said solemnly. "The Xianying series is one of the civilian flying swords developed independently with heavy backing from our Nine Cauldrons Sect. Our goal is to push back against outside factions like the Immortal Alliance and Wuji Astral Palace as they encroach on our civilian flying sword market... After all, everyone knows how low production costs have dropped for flying swords nowadays." At this point, a trace of helplessness crept into his voice. "A flying sword without any combat capability, meeting spirit artifact standards in just a single specification, and they dare hawk it as a true spirit artifact for over a thousand spirit coins! Do they think our Nine Cauldrons Sect's spirit stones grow on trees?" Having arrived in this world less than a month ago, Yaoguang felt little personal resonance with this complaint. Lin Sen seemed to realize that venting like this was inappropriate. Pulling himself together, he adopted a brisker tone. "Although the central energy plant was relocated to Jiuxiao City, the relevant R&D equipment hasn't been moved yet. When it comes to energy systems, Longxiang Taixue still possesses deep expertise. Combined with the conduction system you just sent, Mr. Yaoguang, we're confident we can substantially reduce spirit energy costs, dropping the Xianying 60's spirit consumption per ten thousand kilometers from 135 to 118." "Still at 118? That's eighteen basis points behind Cangwu's leading standard, let alone being far ahead of the competition." Yaoguang was somewhat surprised. Flying swords, even baseline dharma artifacts used merely for transportation, usually cost over a million. Zong Yan could afford one, but it would strain his purse. Besides, what did consuming 118 units of spirit energy per ten thousand kilometers actually mean? A single spirit stone provided only 100 units of spirit energy. In other words, flying ten thousand kilometers would cost 1.18 spirit stones. The operating cost was higher than the sword itself. Anyone other than a high-tier cultivator could not afford to run it at all. "It's mainly because time has been too short; we haven't had a chance to test everything thoroughly," Lin Sen said. "Do you mind if I look into the reason?" Yaoguang inquired. Lin Sen pondered for a moment. "That's fine, but I must ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, Mr. Yaoguang." "Understood," Yaoguang agreed. Zong Yan tactfully stepped outside the office without needing to be told. Once Yaoguang signed the agreement, Lin Sen retrieved a jade talisman from his person and placed it on the electronic desk. As formation patterns flickered to life, the data inside the talisman projected upward, merging seamlessly with the flying sword phantom already hovering in the air. Lin Sen stepped forward and operated on the projection. Guided by his divine sense, the phantom sword rapidly expanded, exposing its intricate internal formation pattern structure. These formation patterns intertwined with artifact-refining materials to create lines of striking elegance. Tens of thousands of lines rippled through layer upon layer, ultimately converging at the hilt. There lay a slot for inserting a spirit stone. Yaoguang did not inspect the phantom sword right away; instead, he glanced at the jade talisman Lin Sen had produced. Evidently, Professor Lin had come fully prepared. Then again... This suited his purposes perfectly. Without hesitation, Yaoguang walked forward. In his mind, knowledge from his [Artifact Refining] branch—already elevated to the ninth rank—began flashing by. It had to be said that the craftsmanship built into the Xianying was quite sophisticated. It wasn't about the raw tier it occupied, but rather... Its mastery ratio. Much like Yaoguang's [Martial Path] branch, where reaching sixty percent progress theoretically allowed an attempt at the next realm, the same principle applied to artifact refining. In this Xianying sword, the eighth-rank crafting standards reached around fifty-five percent, but its seventh-rank standards exceeded sixty percent, and certain sixth-rank techniques even rivaled eighty-five percent mastery. What did that mean? It meant that if sold as a sixth-tier flying sword, it would deliver seventh-tier performance and be exceptionally competitive; even sold as a seventh-tier sword, it would pass muster. Yet its materials and underlying architecture were entirely aimed at the eighth rank. 'For personal use, it wouldn't matter, and if the market were monopolized, it wouldn't be an issue either. But with so many competitors now, prices in the high-end flying sword market have crashed completely. Profit margins are razor-thin. Selling an eighth-rank build at sixth-rank prices would leave them losing everything down to their shirts.' Yaoguang examined the sword's energy system, lost in thought. During his years accumulating strength in the Artifact Nurturing Realm, his various professions had all advanced. He had experimentally raised [Merchant] and [Demon Hunting] to the fourth rank. The [Merchant] branch had yielded a passive secret technique: Integrity. Long-term honest dealing in commerce made it easier for him to win the trust of business partners during negotiations. As for [Demon Hunting], its secret technique was Tracking. Using blood as a medium, it placed a beacon on a "demon," allowing him to sense the target's location across immense distances. It could only mark demons, however. In other words, creatures of the Moon Demon Empire. Perhaps it could mark other beings in the future, but for now... It felt rather underwhelming. It provided no boost to combat capability. Therefore, after raising those two professions to the fourth rank, he had set them aside to concentrate on elevating [Artifact Refining] and the [Divine Path]. By now, both branches had risen to the ninth rank. Artifact Refining stood at seventy-one percent, while the Divine Path, which he cultivated as a priority, had reached ninety-six percent—just five percentage points shy of entering the Origin Spirit realm. Seventy-one percent progress... Among high-tier artifact refiners, this placed him among the most outstanding elite. After all, once many high-tier artifact refiners reached sixty percent progress, they would set about crafting spirit artifacts, no longer wasting effort on lower-grade dharma artifacts. Furthermore, his progress at the eighth rank had been a full one hundred percent! Compared to fifty-five percent, the gap in technical mastery between the two was unmistakable. After studying the schematic for a moment, Yaoguang asked, "May I use your workstation?" "Be my guest," Lin Sen replied. Yaoguang immediately duplicated the Xianying 60's energy system, guiding, tweaking, and refining the virtual model. Although his primary focus over the past two years had been body refining, his spirit refining had also advanced to the Sixth Layer. With the divine mind of a Sixth Layer Spirit Refining practitioner, he processed the data with tremendous speed. The reason he had not yet pushed into the Seventh Layer was not an inability to break through, but a concern over upsetting the balance. This involved the distinction between nurturing spirit with qi and refining qi into spirit. When the divine mind grew too powerful, it exerted pressure on the physical body, shifting his essence and qi from primarily tempering the flesh toward refining qi into spirit. Relying on his extraordinary realm, Yaoguang could suppress this effect. Yet it still demanded a portion of his focus. Maintaining the proper balance and priority between body refining and spirit refining remained essential. After all... In its early stages, spirit refining was suited only for support; its head-on combat strength was far too weak. Furthermore, the Divine Path prioritized realm even more than the Martial Path. It was like spiritual attainment versus magic power. As long as the realm climbed, the supernatural abilities displayed would not be lacking—at most, endurance would be slightly shorter. ... Night had fallen. Yet Lin Sen showed no sign of impatience. For cultivators, pulling an all-nighter was the most ordinary thing in the world. Could you even call it cultivating immortality if you didn't stay up through the night? Fortunately, Yaoguang did not keep him waiting long. Around nine in the evening, his hands began moving rapidly across the virtual model. With the manual speed of the Martial Path and the processing speed of the Divine Path, he completed an entire optimization of the model in just over an hour. "I've optimized the energy system. But a flying sword doesn't just consist of an energy system; it also has propulsion, balance, stabilization, and so forth... To ensure that changes to the energy system don't destabilize the other systems, this is as far as I can take it. If I'm to go any further, I would need access to the complete blueprints for the Xianying 60." Yaoguang tapped the virtual model and smiled. "Have a spirit cultivator on the computational path run a simulation with a calculation artifact. Barring any surprises, its spirit consumption should have dropped below 100. Once you have the exact figure, let me know." "Below 100?!" Though Lin Sen had expected Yaoguang to deliver a pleasant surprise, he had never imagined it would be this monumental! "Are you serious?! A spirit consumption of 100 for an eighth-tier flying sword—if this can really be achieved, it means our Nine Cauldrons Sect's energy efficiency in eighth-tier civilian flying swords has reached the leading standards of the Cangwu Realm!" "Run the test and you'll see," Yaoguang said, glancing outside at the pitch-black sky. "I've taken up an entire day of your time, so I'll take my leave now." Lin Sen quickly gathered himself. "Mr. Yaoguang, you came all this way in person and I haven't even treated you to a proper meal. That's a terrible oversight on my part. I'll arrange something right away—" "No need. I imagine your mind is entirely on verifying this model as soon as possible. Don't worry about me. Just notify me the moment you have the results," Yaoguang said magnanimously. Lin Sen was indeed champing at the bit. After all, this bottleneck had stumped them for far too long. With an apologetic look, he replied, "Then... once this succeeds, I'll host a banquet in your honor, Mr. Yaoguang. And as for your share of the remuneration, it certainly won't disappoint." "Then I'll await your good news, Professor Lin." Yaoguang nodded and turned to leave.