Accumulation

Inside the Zixiao Institute. "Hall Master Zhao, Elder Zhang, Grandmaster Wei, Grandmaster Lu." Yaoguang, accompanied by Yun Lai, stepped forward to welcome the arriving group. "Haha, First Seat Yaoguang, we made a special trip today specifically to congratulate you." Zhao He's face beamed with delight. "Ever since our sword cultivators finished refitting last month and officially began patrolling the waters around Posuo Island, they've encountered Xuanming Sect sword cultivator squads sixteen times. In all sixteen skirmishes, every single one ended in our total victory—or, at the very worst, a clean retreat without casualties! Whenever our Origin Spirit Great Cultivators provided long-range support, the Xuanming Sect cultivators couldn't even dream of escaping. In just one month, the Xuanming Sect has lost forty-five sword cultivators!" "Forty-five!?" Yaoguang was slightly astonished. Those deployed to Posuo Island right now were the most elite high-tier sword cultivators—cultivators at the ninth layer of qi refining. Eighth-layer cultivators patrolled non-frontline combat zones, while seventh-layer cultivators could only be stationed in local garrisons. As for those below the seventh layer, they rarely entered the active battle order at all. Yaoguang did not know how many ninth-layer sword cultivators the Nine Cauldrons Sect possessed, but for a small-to-mid-sized sect like the Xuanming Sect, a thousand or eight hundred was their absolute ceiling. Losing forty-five in a single month... Didn't that mean if combat continued at this intensity, two years would completely wipe out an entire generation of the Xuanming Sect's finest high-tier sword cultivators?! "What about our losses?" Yun Lai inquired. "Only one sword cultivator practicing the Supreme Induction Sword Art suffered a mental shock during a divine mind clash. He chose to transfer away from active duty and will likely take up a post as a combat professor or head of a sword cultivator academy at one of the grand academies." Zhao He smiled as he spoke. "The sect will never mistreat an elite sword cultivator who retired wounded from the front line." Turning his eyes to Yun Lai, he added, "Speaking of battle records, the squad led by Yun Qing performed exceptionally well. A month ago, his squad was ambushed by six Xuanming Sect sword cultivators. Without any Origin Spirit Great Cultivators supporting them, they withstood the enemy's Origin Spirit Great Cultivator, slaughtered all six Xuanming Sect sword cultivators, and made a clean retreat! Every one of the four was credited with a major merit! Before long, his rank will likely be promoted to Protector of the War Hall." "A Protector!?" Yun Lai was both surprised and overjoyed. A Protector was equivalent in rank to a First Seat. Typically, only Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators were qualified to hold such a title. However, a Protector of the War Hall was half a grade lower than a Protector of the Nine Cauldrons Sect itself, allowing high-tier cultivators with outstanding contributions to hold the post nominally. Once they became Great Cultivators in the future, dropping that prefix to become a true Protector of the Nine Cauldrons Sect would be effortless—a position carrying enough weight to sit as equals with the city lord of Longxiang City, Zhang Jianlin, Qin Yi, and their peers. "The higher-ups have witnessed the results in the East Sea Archipelago. Right now, discussions are already underway to place additional orders for the Zixiao Type 12." Zhao He paused briefly before continuing, "However, some elders have pointed out certain shortcomings of the Zixiao Type 12—namely, its lack of burst capability." "Burst..." "Low-grade spirit artifacts offer the highest cost-effectiveness for high-tier sword cultivators," Zhao He said. "Yet it's entirely foreseeable that after suffering such a massive loss this month, the Xuanming Sect's counterattack will inevitably turn fierce. Our Nine Cauldrons Sect sword cultivators will face even harsher challenges. Under these circumstances, they must possess the power to unleash burst attacks and strike back when danger strikes." Zhao He glanced at Yaoguang. "I brought Grandmasters Wei Yan and Lu Yuan along today specifically in hopes that you could explore whether the Zixiao Type 12 can be further refined to provide explosive power. For cost-effectiveness, we might choose not to use such power constantly, but we cannot afford to lack it." "Mid-grade spirit artifacts, high-grade spirit artifacts..." Yaoguang glanced at his newly accumulated progress in Artifact Refining over the past few months and said, "It's not impossible to design an improvement, but... can the funds allocated by the sect sustain the procurement of mid-grade, or even high-grade, spirit artifacts?" After all, Great Cultivators outside the active battle order were typically equipped only with high-grade spirit artifacts for daily use. "The view from above is that we must deliver one decisive punch to avoid having to fend off a hundred blows," Zhao He said gravely. "Moreover... we have received word that following the dissolution of the Northern Alliance, the Myriad Beasts Sect appears unwilling to continue confronting the formidable Wuji Astral Palace and is actively sending friendly signals. Once tensions in the north ease, a Sky-Patrolling Fleet of the Wuji Astral Palace will be freed up. When that happens, they will very likely seek their next target to carve up in order to cement their status as the preeminent sect in Cangwu." At these words, even Wei Yan and Lu Yuan, who had come along, turned solemn. Sixteen years ago, the Wuji Astral Palace had crushed the Liusha Sect with overwhelming force, displaying a strength so terrifying it drove all factions in Cangwu to despair. As for the Nine Cauldrons Sect... Deep down, no one believed they possessed the power to stand against the Wuji Astral Palace. "To prevent the Xuanming Sect from turning to the Wuji Astral Palace for support when that time comes, we must flex our muscles once more," Zhao He said. "On one hand, we must beat down the Xuanming Sect as swiftly as possible; on the other, we must make the Wuji Astral Palace realize that propping up an inept weakling like the Xuanming Sect against our Nine Cauldrons Sect is simply not worth the cost." Yun Lai, Wei Yan, Lu Yuan, and the others nodded in agreement. Compared to other mid-sized or even large sects, the Nine Cauldrons Sect possessed an advantage that many large sects lacked. A Golden Core! The Nine Cauldrons Sect possessed a Golden Core cultivator! Under such circumstances, if the Wuji Astral Palace truly wanted to pick prey among mid-to-large sects to feast upon, the Nine Cauldrons Sect would certainly rank near the bottom of their list. Yet thinking of this, Wei Yan looked somewhat dejected. "Right now, we can only pray that they don't single us out as prey first. Like fish on a chopping block... Who knows when our Nine Cauldrons Sect will truly restore the former glory of the Ten Great Immortal Sects and wield power rivaling the Wuji Astral Palace." "It will happen," Zhang Jianlin said solemnly. "Under the Sect Master's leadership, our Nine Cauldrons Sect is doing everything within its power to unite every force that can be united. That day will come." Yet neither Lu Yuan, Yun Lai, Wei Yan, nor even Zhao He took up that thread of conversation. Three hundred years ago, the Wuji Astral Palace had already been one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects of the Cangwu Great World. During the war against the Moon Demon Empire, they had stayed safely in the rear, providing sanctuary to fleeing clans in exchange for immense fortunes in spirit stones, divine abilities, secret arts, and technical talents, rising at breakneck speed. Sixteen years ago, by completely crushing the Liusha Sect—a core member of the Northern Alliance—they struck fear into the entire coalition, forcing its dissolution. Today, even the leader of the Northern Alliance, the Myriad Beasts Sect, was unwilling to keep fighting the Wuji Astral Palace... Even if the Nine Cauldrons Sect restored the glory of the Artifact Sect era from three hundred years ago, it could not hope to match the Wuji Astral Palace at the zenith of its power. "We need time," Zhao He said after a long silence. "That is why we must stabilize our borders as quickly as possible, expel the Xuanming Sect, and reclaim the East Sea Archipelago... The archipelago possesses fourteen spirit energy nodes. If we can reclaim them all, the sect's total spirit stone output will increase by at least thirty percent! When that time comes, we won't have to split every spirit stone in two and constantly fret over energy conservation." The others nodded in deep agreement. Zhao He then turned his gaze back to Yaoguang. "So, do you feel confident in upgrading the Zixiao Type 12?" "Having produced the Zixiao Type 12 in large batches recently, I indeed found some inspiration for refining it, but..." Yaoguang looked at Zhao He. "Once two sects engage in a fight to the death, Great Cultivators are the core. In other words, Foundation Establishment sword cultivators equipped with Treasure Weapons are the ones who truly possess the power to alter the course of battle. No matter how many spirit stones we spend procuring mid-grade or high-grade spirit artifacts, such flying swords have limited impact on the core battlefield. Only small sects that cannot forge Treasure Weapons and lack the spirit stones to buy them would equip their Great Cultivators with mid- or high-grade spirit artifacts. Therefore, I believe our true focus should be placed on Treasure Weapons." At these words, Yun Lai, Wei Yan, and Lu Yuan all looked at Yaoguang with peculiar expressions. Treasure Weapons. Who didn't know Treasure Weapons were the core? But... you needed the capability to make them. "Can you refine Treasure Weapons?" Zhao He asked. "No," Yaoguang replied. Zhao He was not surprised. He had not harbored much hope when asking the question in the first place. Thus, he merely said, "Procuring mid-grade and high-grade spirit artifacts indeed lacks cost-effectiveness, but sometimes things cannot be measured solely by cost-effectiveness. The life of a high-tier sword cultivator is worth more than a high-grade spirit artifact!" "A sword cultivator is worth more than a spirit artifact..." Yaoguang pondered for a moment and said, "I will give it a try and give you an answer within three months." "Good. Don't stress yourself; you still have to oversee the production of the Zixiao Type 12 flying swords," Zhao He said with a smile. "Wei Yan, Lu Yuan, and their teams will assist you." Yaoguang glanced at the two men. Both smiled and said, "We will be in First Seat Yaoguang's care moving forward." "That the two grandmasters are willing to help is an honor for our Zixiao Institute," Yaoguang replied with a smile. The reason he had stated three months was that, factoring in the strength of these two artifact refining grandmasters and their teams, they would finish the production order of three thousand Zixiao Type 12 flying swords in precisely three months. Talents of the artifact refining grandmaster caliber likely numbered only eight or ten across the entire Jiuxiao Domain. With this single move, the Zixiao Institute had essentially roped in half of them. Of course, that was assuming he could keep them. *** That evening, Yaoguang returned to his residence. Zong Yan and Kong Xuan were busy carrying in batch after batch of artifact refining materials. Zong Yan had taken on the role of steward, while Kong Xuan served as an assistant and driver. As for Ji Pingtian, as the leader of the Jishi Society, he ultimately could not accept being completely subordinate to Yaoguang and intended to venture out into the world to make his own way. Yaoguang had not forced him to stay. "Holy Lord, the materials you requested have arrived," Kong Xuan reported. "Mm." Yaoguang acknowledged with a nod and asked, "Has anything else come up?" Beside them, Zong Yan hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Xie Yushu sent an invitation, requesting your presence at an initiation banquet a month from now. In the Nine Cauldrons Sect disciple assessment half a month ago, two members of the Xie family entered the sect—one is Deacon Xie Yier, and the other is an official disciple, Xie Yushi." "Xie Yushi? An official disciple?" Yaoguang was slightly surprised. "She is a genius the Xie family had kept hidden all along, groomed to inherit the clan. Supposedly only twenty-four years old, she had already reached the fifth layer of qi refining. After spending over a year here, she advanced to the sixth layer. Her talent surpasses even Jiang Xuntian of Chixing. What's more, during this assessment, her aptitude score reached eighty-one points. In ancient terms, that corresponds to high-grade spirit root aptitude, which earned her a special recruitment as an official disciple," Zong Yan explained. Yaoguang nodded upon hearing this. It did not surprise him that the Xie family had concealed an even more talented disciple in the shadows. "Set the invitation aside for now. I will go if I have time," Yaoguang said. "Understood," Zong Yan replied. Yaoguang then headed upstairs to his cultivation chamber. He gradually checked his physical and mental state... "The Martial Path... has reached the ninth layer." Divine mind flowed smoothly through his consciousness. "The Divine Path has also reached the ninth layer." Yet he was in no hurry to break through to the Star Lord or Origin Spirit realms. He could not fix the loophole where merchants were unable to take out loans, but he could exploit a loophole regarding his cultivation realm. Once he broke through, it was entirely foreseeable that when he focused on refining artifacts to earn spirit stones, the required 'labor costs' he had to pay would rise sharply. Profits that originally required tens or hundreds of thousands of spirit stones to advance from the Star Lord realm to the Star God realm might balloon to millions or even several millions. Given the relatively stable situation at present... There was no rush. He shifted his gaze toward the Artifact Refining branch. That branch had now surpassed both the Martial Path and the Divine Path, becoming the thickest branch of all. Yaoguang estimated its progress... It was around ninety-three percent. With this level of progress, let alone upgrading the Zixiao Type 12 into a high-grade spirit artifact, modifying it to match the performance of a Treasure Weapon would be well within his capabilities. *The only reason I can safely earn money right now is thanks to the secure environment and operating conditions provided by the Nine Cauldrons Sect. If I had gone to other major sects... with my background from a peripheral small world, they would have slapped me with the label of a Moon Demon Empire spy on the spot and forced me to refine artifacts day and night...* After pondering for a while, Yaoguang mapped out his plan: *First, secure the order for the upgraded high-grade spirit artifacts. Next, elevate Artifact Refining into an entirely new realm so that I possess the ability to craft Treasure Weapons representing the pinnacle of this world. Only then will I concentrate my efforts on raising my Martial Path realm.* No matter what, having sufficient strength was the only true guarantee of his own safety.