Encounter

After Zong Yan, Kong Xuan, and Xie Yushu departed, Yaoguang's life returned to its normal track once more. He had few friends or relatives here, and his interactions with the Hundred Refinements Sect—the only group he could be considered familiar with—had soured due to Huang Yunqi. As for socializing... The circle he had stepped into was far too elevated; those coming and going were all Great Cultivators. And in a rebuilding Nine Cauldrons Sect, which Great Cultivator did not hold vital responsibilities? None had time to chat or socialize idly with him. He simply turned his focus to artifact refining, intending to earn plenty of spirit stones and grind enough experience first. ... "The Nine Cauldrons Sect disburses payments very efficiently." Yaoguang smiled faintly. He extended his awareness slightly into his storage bag, checking the gold foil sheets that served as bankbooks... "My total assets have broken three hundred thousand." Yaoguang thought to himself. Three hundred thousand spirit stones! What a staggering fortune. "If all these spirit stones were dumped into a single person, setting aside spirit refining which heavily depends on talent, in terms of qi refining, anyone with an aptitude score of 60 could be piled up into a Great Cultivator within a decade. If they had a top-grade aptitude of 80, the time could even be compressed to three to five years. And if I used them to buy medicinal pills, given my advantage of not needing to worry about realm bottlenecks, for the Star Lord realm, I could directly forge a fifth-rank God-Fiend Body, while in terms of origin spirit, I could easily withstand Zixiao Divine Lightning." However, Yaoguang had no intention of purchasing pills. He did not even plan to buy some as reserves. The Nine Cauldrons Sect's alchemy... Ordinary medicines and spirit pills were acceptable, but their refining technique for treasure pills was far too crude. The resulting pills all contained varying degrees of pill toxicity; consuming too many did more harm than good. If one wanted to buy treasure pills virtually free of toxicity, one could only turn to places like Dengxian Tower, Zhaixing Tower, the Divine Beast Pavilion, or Great Sun Tower. Yet just like Treasure Weapons, when these establishments sold treasure pills for Great Cultivators, the markup was staggering. Rather than let these factions profit off his hard-earned spirit stones for nothing, it was better to wait. If an [Alchemy] branch grew out later on, why worry about lacking treasure pills for cultivation? As Yaoguang took stock of his gains, Xiang Guangming's voice sounded from outside. "First Seat, Master Qiangwei has arrived." "Oh, please come in," Yaoguang said. Guided by Xiang Guangming, Zi Qiangwei stepped inside, holding several jade talismans in her hand. Glancing at the active workbench beside Yaoguang, she raised the jade talismans with a smile. "Take a look?" "What are they?" "Some modifications to the formation patterns of the Zixiao Type 12 flying sword," Zi Qiangwei replied. "Hmm?" Yaoguang took the jade talismans, somewhat surprised. "Aren't you a formation master? You know artifact refining as well?" "My formation rank is Level 5, One-Star, and my artifact refining rank is Level 4, Two-Star," Zi Qiangwei said. At these words, Yaoguang could not help looking at her with astonishment. A Level 5, One-Star in formations meant she could lay out fifth-level, first-generation formations. A Level 4, Two-Star in artifact refining meant she could forge second-generation low-grade spirit artifacts. Furthermore, by her appearance and attire, Zi Qiangwei seemed like a young woman in her early twenties, yet her cultivation had already reached the Origin Spirit realm! Although she was likely in her thirties or forties, a Great Cultivator at that age... She was an absolute genius! A true genius! "Miss Zi Qiangwei is truly versatile. With such remarkable talent, I imagine you are already an elder in one of the halls? Forgive my slight," Yaoguang spoke from the heart. "First Seat Yaoguang is too polite. Compared to you, what do my meager achievements amount to? If you went to test for an artifact refining rank, you could directly obtain Level 6, Three-Star. In our entire Nine Cauldrons Sect, the number of artifact refiners with that capability probably doesn't exceed two hands," Zi Qiangwei said. "No more than two hands?" Yaoguang paused, somewhat surprised. "Fewer than ten people!?" "Indeed," Zi Qiangwei nodded. "Generally, after becoming capable of refining top-grade spirit artifacts, refiners focus their efforts on refining Treasure Weapons. Thus, they either remain at Level 6, One-Star, or advance straight to Level 7, One-Star, which marks an Artifact Refining Grandmaster." Yaoguang nodded in understanding. Compared to artifact refining masters capable of crafting third-generation top-grade spirit swords, the Nine Cauldrons Sect had a far greater need for enough Artifact Refining Grandmasters. Spirit artifacts were merely small-scale affairs. Dharma treasures were the true pillars of state. "The reason I came today is that Grandmaster Dong Liushui showed me the Zixiao Type 12 flying sword you refined. He felt your flying sword still had room for improvement..." As Zi Qiangwei spoke, she quickly added, "I am not questioning your refining craftsmanship. In terms of technique, not a single Level 6, Three-Star artifact refiner could find fault with you. It's just that... in terms of formation patterns, the Zixiao Type 12 flying sword could have a better design. If further optimized in that area, the Zixiao Type 12 could even step into the realm of fourth-generation low-grade spirit swords. When that time comes, it will be enough for us to claim a share of the fourth-generation spirit artifact market monopolized by Wuji Astral Palace and the Immortal Alliance." "You mean... selling them externally?" Yaoguang quickly caught on. "Right. Third-generation flying swords have already reached world-leading performance and boast powerful market competitiveness, but the third-generation market is saturated. If the Zixiao 12 truly wants to carve out a path in the low-grade spirit artifact market, the best way is an asymmetric strike from the fourth-generation market! With the selling point of a fourth-generation flying sword, to say nothing of farther lands, we will definitely capture the market across the Tianxing Continent," Zi Qiangwei said confidently. These words immediately opened a whole new world for Yaoguang. Indeed—his flying swords could be sold not just within the Nine Cauldrons Sect, but to other sects as well. Spirit artifacts were not like Treasure Weapons; restrictions on external sales were far less strict. All he needed was to scale them down slightly in certain aspects or leave a minor backdoor so buyers could not use the swords to threaten the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Besides, a fourth-generation flying sword was a rare commodity... Raising the profit margin to 30%, or even 40% or 50%, wouldn't be excessive, would it? Yaoguang immediately took Zi Qiangwei's jade talismans, projected their contents onto the workbench, and examined them intently. He did not understand formations, but when he integrated the formation patterns Zi Qiangwei provided into the Zixiao 12 flying sword, he truly discovered room for improving the Zixiao 12. As if a certain shackle had been broken, the ceiling of the Zixiao 12 was suddenly raised by an entire tier. All that remained was for him to modify the Zixiao 12 to fill that higher ceiling. While Yaoguang pondered, Zi Qiangwei waited quietly without the slightest rush. After several hours, Yaoguang opened his eyes and gave a firm, definitive answer: "It can be modified!" "Really?" Zi Qiangwei looked at Yaoguang with pleasant surprise in her eyes. "Yes," Yaoguang nodded. "However, I think integrating these formation patterns shouldn't start from fourth-level formations, but should go straight to sixth-level formations. That way, the modified Zixiao 12 flying sword, which holds greater weight, can be improved even further. Let's call it the Zixiao 12B for now. When the time comes, its performance will even rival a first-generation Treasure Weapon." "Rival a first-generation Treasure Weapon!?" Zi Qiangwei could not help widening her eyes. "Yes, I'm confident," Yaoguang said. In truth, fourth-generation flying swords were not even the limit of the information he possessed. If he spent more time and effort, upgrading them into unprecedented fifth-generation flying swords was by no means an extravagant dream. "I need to consult my father... the Hall Master..." Zi Qiangwei said, before continuing, "However, if a fourth-generation flying sword truly possesses such exceptional performance as you say, a revolutionary spirit sword like that certainly cannot be sold externally... So for external sales, our priority should still be low-grade spirit artifacts." With that, she added, "Furthermore, we must consider the purchasing power of other sects. Compared to top-grade flying swords that offer higher performance but cost much more, they value cost-effectiveness." "Is that so," Yaoguang frowned slightly. Selling top-grade spirit artifacts was undoubtedly far more profitable than low-grade ones. However... Zi Qiangwei had studied the Zixiao 12 for several months before tentatively proposing a scheme, and that was only because she had studied artifact refining as well. Had it been any other formation master... Unless their artifact refining skill also reached Level 6, ghost knew how long they would have had to study it before offering any suggestions. Considering that the order for the Zixiao 12 was already complete, and only four hundred swords remained on the order for the modified Zixiao 12, Yaoguang said, "I'll first study how to optimize the Zixiao 12 to the fourth generation and determine which aspects we can differentiate to create an export model." "Alright," Zi Qiangwei nodded. She needed to report this news upward as well. After Zi Qiangwei left, Yaoguang seemed to remember something and suddenly slapped his forehead. "Careless of me." Now his importance would likely grow by another degree. Had he known the sect would be unwilling to sell the modified Zixiao 12B flying sword that could rival first-generation Treasure Weapons in power, he wouldn't have bothered bringing it up. Shaking his head, he composed himself and turned his attention back to the formation patterns on the workbench, projecting the blueprints of the Zixiao 12 flying sword that had been gathering dust for nearly half a year. However, after working on the improvements for just a short while, he seemed to sense something, and his heart stirred. "Such a massive scene?" The next moment, the "Heavenly Net" trait derived from his [Artifact Refining] branch activated. His thoughts and awareness seemed to span the tens of thousands of li between his workbench and the East Sea Archipelago, appearing over a stretch of sea not far from Posuo Island. More accurately... They settled onto several flying swords. "Hm!? Familiar faces, even." ... Three thousand li west of Posuo Island in the East Sea. Yun Qing was flying on his sword at full speed alongside Zhan Yunfei while constantly relaying messages through the Heavenly Palace cultivators to contact other squads: "Nest located! Enemy nest located! Thirty-two high-rank sword cultivators! Repeat, thirty-two high-rank enemy sword cultivators are massing!" He added emphatically, "Gathering so many elite high-rank sword cultivators here means they definitely harbor an ulterior motive!" "Captain Yun Qing, four squads are currently converging on your position. In one minute, Hall Master Bailu's divine mind will arrive and blanket the area. Please gather your forces and coordinate with Hall Master Bailu to counterattack!" Soon, the command from the rear command center sounded in his ears. "Counterattack? The enemy has Origin Spirit realm cultivators too! Twenty of us counterattacking thirty-two of them!?" Yun Qing was astonished. "Please believe in the swords in your hands!" The command center spoke without giving him any chance to refuse: "Connecting to Black Owl Squad and Falcon Squad..." "The swords in our hands!" Yun Qing looked down at the flying sword in his grip, purportedly the modified Zixiao Type 12. Only four hundred of them had been produced so far, and fewer than two hundred people had successfully refined and wielded them. However, as the various performance specs of the sword flashed through his mind... "The Zixiao 12 already gave us a noticeable edge in past battles. As a top-grade spirit artifact, the modified Zixiao 12..." Yun Qing quickly made up his mind. Orders had been issued; there was no room for refusal. "Black Owl, Falcon... converge on me... prepare to engage the enemy!" Yun Qing swiftly entered communications with the other four squads. "Understood!" The responses of the others soon rang in his ears. Before long, sword lights tore through the clouds at the horizon, entering the sight of Yun Qing, Zhan Yunfei, Tu Hong, and Zhang Lie. "How do we engage?" "They have the numbers; play to our speed advantage?" "Heh, I love fights with real intensity!" Voices rang out one after another across the virtual channel administered by the Virtual Spirit Realm. Yet before they could formulate a strategy, a powerful divine mind swept across like an enormous net, instantly blanketing this patch of sky. "I am Bailu." The divine mind transmitted the message without a moment's pause: "Hear my command: east 27 degrees, coordinates 177:816:291. Everyone, strike with all your might! I will guide you and obliterate the enemy!"