Inside the restaurant.
Murong Yuan returned to his seat and resumed keeping Zhou Ming, the Vice Minister of the Operations Department, company.
Before he could strike up a conversation, a woman dressed like an assistant hurried over to his side and whispered, "First Seat Yaoguang has arrived."
At these words, delight instantly broke across Zhou Ming's face. Turning to Murong Yuan with a broad smile, he said, "Young Yuan, earlier when people said your Murong family had managed to forge a connection with the First Seat of the Zixiao Institute, I was somewhat skeptical. Now it seems I underestimated you. Come, come, let us hurry downstairs to welcome him."
"The First Seat of the Zixiao Institute?"
Hearing this, Murong Yuan felt an irrepressible surge of joy.
*He came!?*
That prominent figure who was currently the man of the hour before the branch hall masters, vice hall masters, and even Sect Master Zhao...
*He actually came!?*
He immediately sprang to his feet as well. "It is truly First Seat Yaoguang showing us great honor..."
Zhou Ming, however, caught hold of his arm and hurried toward the exit.
Nor were they alone. Many people throughout the banquet hall seemed to have received the news and rose one after another.
All at once, dozens of people in the expansive hall stood up, forming a human wave that surged toward the entrance.
Moreover, most of them were distinguished guests seated at the foremost tables.
Those seated farther back did not even have the standing to stand up and join the crowd.
To one side of the banquet hall, Xie Yier and Xie Yushi—the guests of honor for the occasion—were speaking with one another. When they noticed the sudden movement, both were slightly startled.
However, an ornately adorned woman beside them urgently prompted them, "Why are you two just standing there dazed? First Seat Yaoguang is here! Hurry over to the entrance to receive him! What is your status, and what is First Seat Yaoguang's status? Could you possibly expect him to come over here to congratulate you?"
Xie Yier and Xie Yushi quickly rose and followed the flow of people toward the entrance.
Beside them, several bright, smiling young women crowded close, their faces full of envy. "Senior Sister Xie, who would have thought you actually managed to invite First Seat Yaoguang? You have no idea how high the Zixiao Institute's earnings are right now! Every month, hundreds of thousands of spirit stones pour in! The annual salary of even an ordinary artifact refiner is pushing toward ten spirit stones! It is simply unimaginable. The employees of the Energy Department, whom everyone envies, make only a single spirit stone a year!"
"That the Zixiao Institute achieved such results is entirely thanks to First Seat Yaoguang alone. Without him, the institute would still be scraping by on sect subsidies!"
"I heard First Seat Yaoguang is very young—is that true? Sister Xie, could you let me sit beside him when the time comes? I would be glad even just serving him tea and pouring water!"
The young women chattered excitedly.
Xie Yushi remained composed, but Xie Yier looked at them...
Every one of them was young and charming, in their early twenties, and more importantly, neither their talent nor their strength was lacking.
Not a single one was below the qi refining fourth tier.
Indeed, the qi refining fourth tier, not the body refining fourth tier.
All of them possessed genuine cultivation talent.
If they could break into the qi refining sixth tier before turning thirty and transform their bodies into innate bodies, their appearances would become as pure and lovely as eighteen- or nineteen-year-old maidens, and they could preserve that youthful vigor for four or five decades.
This was the inherent advantage of the path of qi refining.
Yet now, these young women were gathering around her solely for the chance to show their faces before Yaoguang?
"I..."
Xie Yier parted her lips, wanting to explain something, yet she truly had no idea how to put it into words.
Right then, someone in front called out, "Make way, make way! Please do not crowd the entrance and block the path! Everyone, please return to your seats first!"
His words drew nods of agreement from several prominent figures, who chimed in at once. "Indeed, indeed. Return to your seats first, do not cause disorder!"
"Maintain order!"
At once, the crowd shifted, stepping back one after another.
Caught in the retreat, even Xie Yushi and Xie Yier, the supposed stars of the banquet, were nudged to the sidelines.
Xie Yier could only stand in the crowd, watching as Yaoguang walked straight toward the head table, flanked by Xie Yushu, the Murong family patriarch, and several influential figures whom even the Murong patriarch had to flatter and cultivate.
Though she was supposed to be the guest of honor, in this moment, not a single gaze lingered on her for even half a second.
Before long, the party took their seats, and the banquet was officially declared open.
Xie Yushu, Murong Yuan, and the others deliberately invited Yaoguang onto the stage to deliver the opening remarks.
Even though he spoke only a few brief words, thunderous applause erupted below.
Once Yaoguang stepped down, Xie Yier and Xie Yushi, the two guests of honor, finally had the opportunity to take the stage and show their faces.
Yet as they addressed the room, they discovered that while the ordinary guests listened, the influential figures kept their eyes trained on Yaoguang, already toasting and chatting with him.
That sensation...
It felt as though the two of them were mere actors performing on a stage.
After descending, they were given little time to rest before Xie Yushu, Murong Yun, and Murong Hua—the senior martial brother the Murong family intended to match with Xie Yier—hurried over together.
"Quick, Yier, let us go propose a toast to First Seat Yaoguang!"
Murong Hua's face was flushed with excitement.
At this moment, possessing the standing to propose a toast to the First Seat of Zixiao was itself a symbol of identity and status.
If they arrived too late, Yaoguang might simply rise, toast the entire room with a casual 'a drink to everyone here,' and wrap things up.
Guided and prompted by the others, the two protagonists, Xie Yier and Xie Yushi, eventually made their way before Yaoguang.
The surrounding guests, aware that Yaoguang had attended out of regard for his past ties to the Xie family, naturally gave them room.
"Congratulations on your admission to the Nine Cauldrons Sect. I hope both of you will attain early success in your cultivation, perhaps even heading to the main sect for advanced training, and achieve the ranks of Protector and true disciple,"
Yaoguang smiled and addressed the two.
At the same time, Kong Xuan, beside him, brought forward two long boxes. Seeing the slender packaging, someone in the crowd could not help but let out a sharp gasp: "Those are the Zixiao Type 12 flying swords manufactured by the Zixiao Institute!"
A commotion rippled through the crowd at once.
"The Zixiao Type 12 flying sword! It's said to have reached third-generation performance, making it one of the most advanced low-grade spirit swords in the world today! Right now, it is supplied exclusively to the War Hall; outsiders cannot buy it even if they want to!"
"Good heavens, this model of flying sword has a list price of four hundred spirit stones, and external offers have already surpassed five hundred!"
"Two spirit artifact flying swords... This gift... is far too extravagant! Even if our Shao family liquidated everything we owned, we couldn't afford it..."
All sorts of murmurs and exclamations arose continuously from the crowd.
Xie Yier stared in a daze as Kong Xuan presented such an extravagant gift on Yaoguang's behalf.
*Four hundred spirit stones!*
*A gift worth a full four hundred spirit stones!*
*Yaoguang...*
*Gave it away just like that.*
This showed just how astonishingly lucrative the Zixiao Institute had become under his direction, and how immense his personal wealth was right now.
"This... First Seat Yaoguang, this gift is far too valuable..."
Xie Yushu hurriedly stepped forward.
"A small token of goodwill. In the Artifact Nurturing Realm, we received no small amount of care from your family," Yaoguang said with a smile. "Please, accept it."
Hearing this, Xie Yushu instantly understood.
These two flying swords served first as a congratulatory gift for Xie Yier and Xie Yushi's admission into the Nine Cauldrons Sect, and second...
They likely served as compensation for the Su family fully taking over the Artifact Nurturing Realm from the Xie family.
From now on, the Artifact Nurturing Realm would belong entirely to the Su family as their private domain.
"Congratulations."
Kong Xuan stepped forward and handed the two sword cases to Xie Yier and Xie Yushi.
Seeing that Xie Yushu no longer refused, Xie Yushi gladly accepted hers and expressed her heartfelt thanks.
Xie Yier glanced at Kong Xuan...
Only a few months had passed, yet Kong Xuan... was already at the body refining fifth tier, not far behind her.
At this rate, within a year or two at most, he would likely become a high-level body cultivator.
And what about her?
Her family's spirit stones had been exhausted just to finance their entry into the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Never mind one or two years—whether she could become a high-level body cultivator in three to five years, or even eight to ten, was a serious question. The disparity between them would widen at a visible rate.
In the end, it all came down to the differing choices they had made.
If she had listened to Xie Yushu back then and remained at Yaoguang's side, then right now...
Kong Xuan would not be the one enjoying such boundless prestige.
In the end, before everyone's eyes, she took the sword case and replied with a twinge of bitterness in her heart, "Thank you."
...
Yaoguang did not stay until the banquet concluded; having received a transmission, he departed early.
On one hand, he genuinely had business requiring his return to Longxiang City.
On the other hand...
This banquet had made him realize that he had already completely detached from the ordinary strata of society.
If measured by the standards of Tiannan Province, even if his stature did not yet rival that of Governor-General Wei Kongming or local heavyweight Yue Nanxing, his influence was likely no less than that of Su Chiming during his days as Tiannan's wealthiest man.
And that was without announcing that he had elevated Artifact Refining to the Grandmaster tier; had he revealed that, standing as an equal with Zhao Siliang, the branch Sect Master, would have been an afterthought.
By contrast, the Xie and Murong families were, at best, a wealthy class with assets numbering in the hundreds of millions. Perhaps they had one or two members serving in the Nine Cauldrons Sect, but at most they were low-level supervisors, only marginally better off than ordinary disciples.
Shaking his head, Yaoguang pushed the thought aside and returned to the Zixiao Institute.
Inside the Zixiao Institute, Zhao Siliang, the branch Sect Master; Zhao He, Hall Master of the War Hall; Elder Zhang Jianlin; Chief Artifact Refiner He Renzhi; Wu Xunzhen, Hall Master of the Logistics Hall; and Xiang Tianheng, Vice Master of the Artifact Refining Hall and Minister of the Flying Sword Department from the headquarters in Red City, were already touring the grounds under the guidance of Yun Lai, Wei Yan, Lu Yuan, and others.
It was precisely upon receiving word at the banquet that Sect Master Zhao Siliang was leading an inspection party that Yaoguang had rushed back.
When they met, before Yaoguang could speak, Zhao Siliang stepped forward first and grasped his hands warmly. "My sincere apologies for arriving on such short notice without sending prior word. Please forgive us, First Seat Yaoguang."
"Not at all. Sect Master Zhao's inspection brings immense honor to our Zixiao Institute. We could not be more delighted; how could we have the slightest complaint?"
Yaoguang exchanged polite pleasantries.
Zhao Siliang then proceeded to introduce the members of the entourage to Yaoguang one by one.
Naturally, the only figure truly warranting special introduction was Xiang Tianheng, the Vice Master of the Artifact Refining Hall from the main sect.
Sensing the aura radiating from Yaoguang, Xiang Tianheng greeted him with a broad smile. "That First Seat Yaoguang chose our Nine Cauldrons Sect is an enormous honor for us. Please rest assured, First Seat Yaoguang, that the Nine Cauldrons Sect will do everything in its power to satisfy any reasonable request you may have."
With that, he gestured toward a young-looking woman in a purple dress standing behind him. "This is Array Master Zi Qiangwei, whom I specially brought from the main sect. Learning that the Star Gate leading to your home world sustained damage, the sect arranged for her to bring a team to repair and calibrate the gate leading directly to your world. Henceforth, whenever an appropriate window opens, First Seat Yaoguang may return home whenever you miss it."
He then produced a dossier. "Furthermore, the Nine Cauldrons Sect fully recognizes First Seat Yaoguang's sovereignty over the Artifact Nurturing Realm. From this day forward, that world shall be named after First Seat Yaoguang as the Yaoguang Realm, and First Seat Yaoguang shall be its first Realm Lord."
Chapter 153