Shift in Focus

On the way back, the look Zong Yan cast toward Yaoguang could not help but carry an extra touch of awe. A professor at the taixue level was not a position just anyone was qualified to hold. One had to receive an advanced rating in at least one auxiliary profession before one could even be called a professor. Such individuals, even if they never took up teaching, could thrive exceedingly well on their specialized expertise alone. For the vast majority of people, a professor was already the highest-ranking figure they could ever hope to come into contact with in their lifetime. This Professor Lin Sen, in particular, was a senior professor capable of serving as the head of an important research project. Above that, a special-grade professor was essentially the pillar of an entire discipline in a taixue academy. And if one went higher still... They would be crowned with the title of Grandmaster—such as Grandmaster of Artifact Refining, Grandmaster of Alchemy, Grandmaster of Formations, and so forth. The status of such figures was scarcely inferior to that of an elder of the Nine Cauldrons Sect. However, they would not be found in taixue academies; virtually all of them conducted research in academies and institutes directly under the Nine Cauldrons Sect's administration. "Is something about to happen? The streets and lampposts along the way are all being decorated," Yaoguang's voice rang out at that moment. Zong Yan gathered his thoughts and glanced outside. "In another month, it will be the ninetieth anniversary of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's founding. The entire sect will be celebrating. Moreover, a grand demonstration ceremony will be held in Chaoyang City, at the main sect headquarters. Powerful experts from all four paths—body, sword, spell, and spirit cultivators—will be sent to attend. I hear that on the sword cultivation side, they will even unveil the Dragon Roar Flying Sword, our Nine Cauldrons Sect's newest self-developed and refined model." "The Dragon Roar Flying Sword..." As a major sect focused on body cultivation, the Nine Cauldrons Sect had no shortage of body cultivators or relevant battle armors, but when it came to sword cultivators... They had never managed to develop a combat doctrine of their own. That was because the flying swords refined within the Nine Cauldrons Sect were of abysmal quality, and for a long time they had relied heavily on purchasing them from other sects. Yet who knew what hidden backdoors might be left inside flying swords bought from other sects? These were items meant to be refined into life-bound flying swords, tied inextricably to a cultivator's very life and soul. If something went wrong, an entire batch of cultivators could be backdoored and turned into puppets. Yet for sword cultivators, the life-bound flying sword was the single most crucial thing. If the quality of the life-bound flying sword was mediocre, three to five sword cultivators from the Nine Cauldrons Sect might not even be a match for one of their opponents at the same realm. As the first self-refined flying sword, if the Dragon Roar Flying Sword could truly remedy the Nine Cauldrons Sect's shortcoming in flying swords, it would surely give the sect a greater say in the Cangwu Realm. At the very least, those sects in the Eastern Sea Archipelago and the Hundred Thousand Mountains wouldn't dare claim their mountains and act as kings so blatantly anymore. However, how the Dragon Roar Flying Sword actually performed remained to be seen. It depended on what tier of sword cultivator it was designed for, its top speed, its energy consumption, and its lethality ratings. If the data didn't hold up, producing the flying sword wouldn't add much deterrent force to the Nine Cauldrons Sect. If the quality was too poor... Other sects would even mock them. *None of that has much to do with me for now,* Yaoguang thought. "Haven't you always been curious about just how formidable the Nine Cauldrons Sect is, Yaoguang? This time, you should be able to see it clearly," Zong Yan said with a smile. "I know," Yaoguang replied. "They may fall short in sword, spell, and spirit cultivation, but as a body cultivation powerhouse capable of rivaling the Six Great Immortal Sects, I estimate that the number of Star Lords in the Nine Cauldrons Sect... is probably in the thousands. And the high-tier cultivators who can take to the battlefield must number in the tens of thousands." "Tens of thousands? More like upwards of a hundred thousand," Zong Yan said. "Don't forget, virtually every affiliated world under the Nine Cauldrons Sect is overseen by several high-tier cultivators. Added together, that's no small number." "Affiliated worlds..." Beyond the Cangwu Great World lay 108,000 stars. However... "Weren't there remnants of the defeated Moon Demon forces lurking in the affiliated worlds, such that the Nine Cauldrons Sect hasn't yet launched a full-scale effort to reclaim the worlds that originally belonged to the Artifact Sect?" "They just haven't launched a comprehensive campaign to reclaim all of them, but whatever they could contact, they basically have. As far as I know, the Nine Cauldrons Sect is currently in contact with over three thousand affiliated worlds." Zong Yan marveled somewhat. "Even if you calculate by an average of one billion people per world, that's still equivalent to indirectly governing three trillion living souls." Three trillion! That number... Startled even Yaoguang. "You can imagine the sheer potential of the elites chosen from three trillion people," Zong Yan said. Yaoguang thought of how even high-tier cultivators in the Nine Cauldrons Sect could at best secure a comfortable living for themselves and benefit a few people around them, and he nodded slightly. In the face of such a colossal behemoth, if he wanted to have any real voice in the Nine Cauldrons Sect in the future, he would probably have to become a Great Cultivator and attain the rank of Star Lord. *I hope I can earn a share of spirit stones from Lin Sen's project this time. Not too much—even ten percent would be enough to let me step into the Eighth Layer of Body Refining over the next few months.* Yaoguang gathered his thoughts. ... Meanwhile, as Yaoguang returned to his residence, the project team headed by Lin Sen at Longxiang Taixue Academy was brightly lit. This project was spearheaded by Special-Grade Professor Qin Yadong, managed by Lin Sen and Guo Wen, with a research team of dozens of people making up the rest. Once Lin Sen brought over Yaoguang's model, he quickly requested divine path cultivators skilled in calculation to verify it. When the verification results came out the next morning, the entire project team erupted with excitement. "The spirit consumption actually dropped to 99?! Quick! Send this data to Professor Qin at once! No! I'll take it over myself!" Clutching the good news, Lin Sen made to head out immediately. Before he could leave, Qin Yadong had already arrived at the lab. "No need, I came over. I heard you worked through the night. I figured you must have made a breakthrough, or you wouldn't have pulled an all-nighter like this. Well? What are the results?" "The latest data: spirit consumption per ten thousand kilometers is 99!" Lin Sen quickly handed the data to Qin Yadong. "99?! We met the target set by higher-ups?" Delight appeared on Qin Yadong's face as well. "Wasn't the latest figure 118 not long ago? How did it drop to 99 all of a sudden?" "Does Professor Qin remember that Yaoguang I mentioned to you?" Lin Sen asked. Qin Yadong immediately recalled. The reason their spirit consumption had dropped from the previous 135 to 118 was precisely because that person named Yaoguang had provided the inspiration. And now... "Professor Qin, I have a recommendation: we should invite him to join our project team," Lin Sen said, spreading out the data in his hands. "Last night, while waiting for the verification results, I carefully examined the parts he modified. Many places... seemed somewhat held back. Perhaps he intentionally kept something in reserve, but more likely... it's because he hasn't seen the full design of the Xianying 60." "You mean... if we let him see all the data for the Xianying 60, the spirit consumption could drop even further?!" Qin Yadong's face showed shock. "99 merely touches the leading benchmark of the Cangwu Realm. While it makes for good publicity, if the spirit consumption could drop a bit more—not even much, just down to 95—it would rank among the very top tier, at least across our Dongtian Continent." Lin Sen's eyes gleamed. "If that gets publicized, it will be a powerful shot in the arm for all the in-house R&D institutions within our Nine Cauldrons Sect. Not only will it bring Longxiang Taixue to the attention of the sect's upper echelons and secure more funding, but it will also greatly inspire confidence among sect members and revitalize their morale." Qin Yadong didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his gaze directly toward a high-tier cultivator beside him. "Xiao Zhou, have you looked into his background?" Lin Sen paused slightly, but quickly realized it made complete sense. Although the Xianying 60 was a civilian project, it still carried a certain confidentiality classification. For an artifact refiner to appear out of nowhere possessing such exquisite craftsmanship, it was hardly surprising that Qin Yadong had ordered a discreet investigation. "It's been investigated. He comes from an affiliated world—Artifact Nurturing Realm No. 108 from the Artifact Sect era..." the high-tier cultivator named Zhou Hao said quickly. Hearing this, Qin Yadong nodded slightly. Coming from an affiliated world essentially eliminated the possibility of him being a spy for another power. Besides, having passed the Demon Discernment Platform, there were no issues with his identity. As he listened, Qin Yadong suddenly caught onto something critical. "Wait! What did you just say?! The previous sentence..." Zhou Hao knew what he was asking and immediately repeated, "According to the investigation, his age this year is indeed only twenty-one." "Twenty-one?! And you said earlier that his body refining path has already reached the Seventh Layer? A high-tier cultivator?" Qin Yadong asked in shock. "Wait? Seventh Layer Body Refining? Isn't he a middle-tier cultivator of the Sixth Layer Spirit Refining?" Lin Sen could not help blurting out as well. "Sixth Layer Spirit Refining?!" Qin Yadong stared in astonishment at Lin Sen. "His spirit refining path has reached the Sixth Layer?" "Yes, I watched him operate my workstation with my own eyes. That level of efficiency is at least Sixth Layer Spirit Refining, and his attainment within the Sixth Layer is quite profound," Lin Sen said. After saying that, he glanced at Zhou Hao beside him, and then at Qin Yadong. Qin Yadong was also staring back at him in equal shock. In the next second, both sucked in a cold breath simultaneously. "Dual cultivation!" "He has talent for dual cultivation!" A flash of excitement surged in their eyes. "A one-in-a-hundred-million dual-cultivation talent, discovered by us?" "He appears to be... a dual cultivator of body refining and spirit refining," Zhou Hao chimed in from the side. Those words cooled the two down slightly. Immediately following that was a wave of deep regret. "Why did it have to be body and spirit dual cultivation..." "If only it were spell and spirit dual cultivation, how wonderful would that be? He could take the beyond-visual-range combat path! Using spirit cultivator traits to project spells across thousands, or even tens of thousands of li to kill enemies..." Regret lingered in their eyes. "Dual cultivation of body and spirit can also follow the path of command bases, combat operations centers, or guidance centers... Regardless, he is a dual cultivator, and his talent is beyond doubt. I refuse to believe any faction would be willing to send a dual cultivator to our Nine Cauldrons Sect as an undercover spy—especially when he revealed it so openly." "Not just dual cultivation—he already has extraordinary talent on the cultivation path itself. Twenty-one years old, Seventh Layer Body Refining plus Sixth Layer Spirit Refining..." As they spoke, their discussion of Yaoguang completely abandoned the aspect of artifact refining techniques. The topic had shifted entirely to his dual-cultivation talent. After a good while, Lin Sen said, "Professor Qin, let's report this news up." "Mhm. The composite combat doctrine brought by dual cultivators is the true future of a great sect."