Verification

The mountain gate of the Nine Cauldrons Sect branch was situated on a semi-artificial peak in what had once been the outskirts of Jiuxiao City. Covering an area of more than thirty square kilometers, it consisted of six smaller hills. Today, however, thanks to the establishment of the Nine Cauldrons Sect branch, this former suburban district had long since transformed into the Jiuxiao City New District. Not only were the streets orderly and lined with greenery, but it had also attracted a vast influx of enterprises. Over the past year, this New District—home to merely a tenth of Jiuxiao City's population—had accounted for half of the entire city's gross domestic product. At that moment, in the inner main hall of the branch, Sect Master Zhao Siliang was going over operational arrangements with Zhao He, Hall Master of the War Hall; Wu Xunzhen, Hall Master of the Logistics Hall; and Huang Wei, Hall Master of the Mystic Formation Hall. "This area..." Zhao Siliang pointed to an island a mere three thousand li from Haige Island. "Within one month, deploy a Rank 4 defensive formation here. We must ensure our sect's disciples have a safe haven to rest and return to peak condition so they can face any crisis." "A Rank 4 defensive formation... Given the terrain, the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Formation would be a good fit." "The Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Formation? That's a first-generation formation! It won't hold against the life-bound flying sword of a top Great Cultivator! It must be at least the Black Tortoise Wuji Formation!" "One month is far too rushed." Huang Wei shook her head flatly. "The Sect Master should know that in the Dao of formations... our talent pool is even scarcer than that of spirit cultivators. The workload for the Black Tortoise Wuji Formation is more than double that of the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Formation. One month simply is not enough..." Zhao Siliang fell into brief contemplation. He understood Huang Wei's difficulty. Just as every sect suffered the sharpest shortage of spirit cultivators in their martial ranks, formation masters were the scarcest of all among the auxiliary professions. Formation mastery was binary—either you grasped it or you did not. Unlike artifact refining or alchemy, one could not simply pile on experience over years to slowly raise their level. "I will request assistance from the main sect and bring you three masters skilled in defensive formations, along with their respective teams." "I will do everything in my power," Huang Wei responded solemnly. Zhao Siliang nodded, then turned to Wu Xunzhen. "The allocation of spirit stones must keep pace. Once the formation is activated, it will consume huge quantities of spirit stones daily. We cannot allow the formation to grind to a halt because spirit stones run short." "Understood," Wu Xunzhen said with a slight nod. "We also need to set aside more spirit stones for the spell cultivators and sword cultivators. Spell cultivators only consume spirit stones when true battle begins, but sword cultivators must patrol the perimeter. Per person, that burns several to a dozen spirit stones each day. There can be no shortage on that front," Zhao Siliang emphasized with utmost seriousness. "That scale of consumption... is manageable for a short time, but my worry is that the Great Sun Sword Sect will drag us into a war of attrition... Although the Energy Department now has over eighty million personnel who have awakened divine sense and can power Spirit Gathering Formations... our spirit stone production capacity remains far too low..." Wu Xunzhen said. "We will not give the Great Sun Sword Sect the opportunity to drag things out. If it truly heads down that path, the higher-ups will make a call," Zhao Siliang replied definitively. "As for spirit stone output... as our contact with affiliated worlds grows, Star Gates are being reactivated one after another. More and more affiliated worlds will join us going forward. That front holds immense promise, so there is no need to worry excessively." Just then, Zhang Jianlin came hurrying into the hall, accompanied by He Renzhi, First Seat of the Nine Cauldrons Sect branch's Artifact Refining Hall. Disregarding the fact that a meeting was underway, the elder announced in agitation, "Sect Master! After repeated testing over this past period, we have verified that the blueprints provided by First Seat Yaoguang can fully achieve the performance figures he claimed!" Zhao Siliang was momentarily taken aback, failing to process the words at first. Then he realized: this was about the modified Zixiao Type 12 that Zhang Jianlin had brought up three days ago. Originally, the leadership had decided to shelve that flying sword for the moment, putting the Posuo Island dispute on hold as well. Yet the performance data sent from the Zixiao Institute had been so extraordinary that even though Zhao Siliang knew the project had been officially axed, he had still allowed Zhang Jianlin... Or rather, Zhang Jianlin had insisted on testing the sword's capabilities anyway. Now, hearing his report... "It achieved them?!" Zhao Siliang asked. The specifications of that flying sword flashed through his mind. The next second, unable to contain himself, he rose abruptly to his feet and repeated, "It truly achieved them?!" "It did! A top-grade spirit artifact! Maximum speed of Mach 4.5, lethality rating of 8.3, and a spiritual consumption of merely 435!" Zhang Jianlin stated emphatically. Zhao Siliang could not help turning his gaze toward the Artifact Refining Hall's First Seat. The master refiner, who was himself capable of overseeing the production of top-grade spirit artifacts, nodded with profound gravity. "The new waves of the Yangtze River drive out the old! When I previously examined the design of the Xianying 60, many of its boundless, imaginative ideas were an eye-opener. Even then, I sensed that First Seat Yaoguang's future would be astonishing. I never imagined that a mere half year later, he would already design such a breathtaking flying sword. Among the many third-generation top-grade spirit artifact flying swords, this weapon sits at the very pinnacle." "Wait!" Zhao He could not resist cutting in. "Yaoguang designed a new flying sword?! And this sword... reaches a maximum speed of Mach 4.5?! Lethality of 8.3?!" "A speed-oriented low-grade treasure weapon flying sword barely has a lethality rating over 10, yet its spiritual consumption frequently exceeds 1,000. This top-grade spirit artifact has lethality approaching that of a speed-focused low-grade dharma treasure?" Wu Xunzhen was visibly stunned. "That isn't even the best part! The best part is that this flying sword costs only one thousand six hundred spirit stones to produce!" Zhang Jianlin said. At those words, Wu Xunzhen, Zhao He, Huang Wei, and Zhao Siliang all changed countenance at once. "One thousand six hundred?! A quasi-fourth-generation top-grade spirit sword costs only one thousand six hundred?!" "Flying swords of that performance... the Zhanlu Artifact Refining Institute can produce them, but their production cost... is a full three thousand, and their procurement price reaches three thousand four hundred!" "The Zixiao Institute actually possesses technology like this?!" These leading figures of the Jiuxiao Domain were completely shaken. Compared to the others, Zhao Siliang knew even more. This included Zhang Jianlin's message that Yaoguang felt confident he could continue refining the modified Zixiao Type 12 flying sword over the next few years and upgrade it to the dharma treasure grade. The performance of this sword confirmed that Yaoguang truly possessed the skill to craft top-grade spirit artifacts—and remarkably advanced ones at that. If he could genuinely forge dharma treasure-grade armaments down the road... At that realization, Zhao Siliang turned decisively to Zhao He. "Assign a squad to secure the Zixiao Institute at once." Zhao He considered it for a moment, immediately catching his drift. "I'll have Qin Yi take charge." A Star Lord could draw upon astral force fields to augment themselves, which was practically equivalent to bestowing a protective barrier upon their person or over an entire zone. They were the ideal candidate for safeguarding and holding down a perimeter. "Very well." Zhao Siliang turned his gaze to Huang Wei. "Send people over to lay down a Rank 3 defensive formation at the Zixiao Institute to guarantee its safety." "I'll go in person. Coordinating the materials for the Black Tortoise Wuji Formation will take at least two or three days anyway. During those couple of days, I can handle the preliminary planning for the Zixiao Institute's defensive formation, and in passing..." Huang Wei smiled. "...meet this artifact refining master whose name I've heard so often lately." Zhao Siliang nodded. After issuing a few more brief directions regarding their pressing tasks, he dismissed the group, then turned to Zhang Jianlin and He Renzhi. "You two get ready. Bring all the flying sword blueprints and experimental data, and accompany me to Red City." "Red City!" That was the seat of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's mountain gate. The ultimate center of authority and power for the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect. Knowing full well what an "Artifact Refining Grandmaster" meant, Zhang Jianlin and He Renzhi nodded solemnly. The two quickly delegated their local affairs, boarded a flying boat, and headed straight for the Nine Cauldrons Sect in Red City. Upon their arrival, Xu Qiexing, Hall Master of the Artifact Refining Hall who had been notified in advance, personally received them. Joining the conference were Xiang Tianheng, Vice Hall Master overseeing the flying sword department, along with several artifact refining masters led by Artifact Refining Grandmaster Dong Liushui. Under Dong Liushui's leadership, these artifact refining masters swiftly carried out a second round of verification on the flying sword. When the testing concluded, the Artifact Refining Grandmaster offered glowing praise without reservation: "This master refiner has forged his own path. On my way here after hearing the news, I took a look at the Zixiao Type 12 flying sword. Both designs share the exact same philosophy, and both have immense room for upward improvement." "Is there any chance that flying swords along this path can be upgraded to dharma treasures in the future?" Xiang Tianheng inquired immediately. "Yes! Without question!" Dong Liushui gave an unequivocal answer without hesitation. "As I said, he has forged his own path—one that differs even from what I know. In a sense, it's equivalent to founding an entirely new school! Moreover, I can clearly perceive its potential with my own eyes, proven by how its performance meets third-generation standards! With this kind of foundation and promise, refining dharma treasure-grade flying swords in the future is by no means wishful thinking." "Truly?!" At this, even Xu Qiexing, Hall Master of the Artifact Refining Hall, could hardly sit still. "Beyond any doubt!" Dong Liushui nodded heavily. "Look at the technical data for this flying sword... Across all parameters, it stands out even among third-generation flying swords. He likely... doesn't know much about engraving formation patterns, or perhaps he doesn't have any established formation masters working under him—at least, not ones skilled in engraving formation patterns. Otherwise, this sword might have reached fourth-generation standards." Having said that, the Artifact Refining Grandmaster could not help wondering aloud, "Was this flying sword truly crafted by a master from our Nine Cauldrons Sect? It wasn't replicated from design blueprints obtained from the Wuji Astral Palace, the Myriad Beasts Sect, or the Immortal Alliance, was it?" "We have vetted his background thoroughly. There is no way he is an undercover operative from another sect," Zhao Siliang affirmed with complete conviction. "I believe that as well. No sect would ever be willing to squander a genius of this caliber as a mole planted in our Nine Cauldrons Sect," Zhang Jianlin vouched alongside him. "Then it's settled!" Xu Qiexing said firmly. With a branch sect master and an elder personally vouching for him, what remained to worry about? Besides, just as Zhang Jianlin had pointed out, who would ever part with such a genius just to plant him as an undercover agent in the Nine Cauldrons Sect?! Even if he were, they would welcome as many such moles as possible. The rebuilding Nine Cauldrons Sect was more than capable of taking them in. What was more, they were confident that through the Nine Cauldrons Sect's sound institutions and open-hearted embrace, they could win over his loyalty and make him a true member of the sect.