Respite

A sky-patrol warship. A true sect-guarding divine artifact! It was the pinnacle creation born from the fusion of artifact refining and formation craft. Refining a mountain-protecting grand formation—the kind normally deployed only at an organization's headquarters—onto a single "dharma treasure" like a sky-patrol warship was what cemented a great sect's prestige as a hegemon capable of sweeping across multiple domains. The strength of a sect did not depend solely on how powerful you were yourself; it depended on whether you could strike the enemy effectively and whether you possessed the ability to destroy them. If you could not wipe out your foe, or could not even strike at them, then no matter how powerful you were, they could simply shut their doors and go on living their lives without paying you any heed. And a sky-patrol warship... Was the key to long-range military projection, as well as the destruction of entire sects and nations. One had to understand that most sects were separated by hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of li. Some of the more distant sects, like the Nine Cauldrons Sect and the Wuji Astral Palace, were separated by tens of millions of li. Under such circumstances, if Great Cultivators flew over using Treasure Weapons, the spiritual consumption alone for the journey would amount to thousands or even tens of thousands of spirit stones per person. Mobilize a thousand people for a single trip, and over ten million spirit stones would vanish into thin air. Not to mention that once you arrived on enemy territory, formations covered every corner of their domain. How long would you have to batter them to break through? How long could your provisions of spirit stones, medicinal pills, and replenishment supplies endure the drain? Particularly during life-and-death combat, a cultivator's internal true origin drained precipitously. For some great spell cultivators, unleashing just one or two major arts was enough to empty their reserves completely. At such a moment, the disparity between having a base and lacking one became glaringly evident. The defenders sat within their formation, peacefully recovering. Meanwhile, the attacking side, hiding in the rear to replenish true origin, had to remain constantly vigilant against surprise raids by enemy sword cultivators. Of course, astral force fields provided by body cultivators offered a degree of protection, but how could that protection compare to grand formations anchored to fortified cities? Unless the gap between the two sides was vast enough to achieve an absolute crushing victory, any cultivator fighting on hostile soil—no matter how powerful—would eventually be worn down and bled dry by the defender's myriad stratagems. In such an environment, a sky-patrol warship bearing its own formations became extraordinarily vital. Stationing a sky-patrol warship at a location was equivalent to planting a city or a sect headquarters right there. Coupled with the carrying capacity intrinsic to the warship itself, the defender's hopes of using their home-field formation advantage to wear out and bleed the attacker dry were reduced to wishful thinking. A war between two sects would thereby transform into a true war of total annihilation. *** "Sky-patrol warship." Li Qingshan murmured those words under his breath. If the Nine Cauldrons Sect could possess sky-patrol warships... Not many, just two or three. Leaving other sects aside, medium and small factions like the Xuanming Sect, the Great Yue Dynasty, the Astral Sea Sect, the Ancient Immortal Sect, and the White Jade Sect would instantly fall in line. Because if they dared provoke the Nine Cauldrons Sect then, the consequence they faced would no longer be a simple defeat, but... Extinction. However... "Let us wait a little longer!" Li Qingshan said, "On the one hand... the sect's other supporting industries still lack maturity. On the other hand, First Seat Yaoguang likely does not yet possess the ability to refine a sky-patrol warship..." "Could we bring over the reference materials on refining sky-patrol warships so First Seat Yaoguang can browse through them?" Zhao Siliang suggested. Over the years, the Nine Cauldrons Sect had continually attempted to manufacture a sky-patrol warship. Unfortunately, to this day, they had not managed to produce even a single first-generation vessel. A warship of that caliber encompassed far too broad a spectrum of disciplines. Never mind the myriad arrays for offense, defense, auxiliary functions, amplification, balance, Awareness, and the like. Just the layout between formation and formation—how to maximize operational efficiency without interference—was enough to leave countless formation grandmasters in the Nine Cauldrons Sect tearing their hair out. To say nothing of how different formations needed to be inscribed on different materials, and whether those different materials would compromise each other's stability... In short, refining a sky-patrol warship required not only the pinnacle techniques of both artifact refining and formation crafts, but mastery over every facet connecting the two fields. "Let him have a look, but do not place too much pressure on him. Even if he has no interest in sky-patrol warships right now, do not force the matter. What he has done already is more than enough," Li Qingshan said. "Understood," Zhao Siliang nodded. At that moment, something else occurred to Li Qingshan, and he added, "The sky-patrol warship from the Myriad Beasts Sect is already being transported our way. When it arrives, place it at the Third Sky-Patrol Research Institute." "The Third Sky-Patrol Research Institute?" Across the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect, there were four research institutes tackling the sky-patrol warship. The one with the best progress was the First Research Institute in Red City. The Third Institute lagged behind somewhat, but... It was closest to the Jiuxiao Domain. It sat in the neighboring Beidou Domain, barely eighty thousand li away—far closer than the First Research Institute, which lay three hundred thousand li off. Piloting a flying boat, the trip took a mere four to five hours. For Rank 3 great sword cultivators skilled in sword flight, the journey would take only forty to fifty minutes. Zhao Siliang understood the Sect Master's intent and nodded. "That works well. The Third Institute does not border the coast and lies deeper in our sect's interior. Moreover, once the captain familiarizes himself with the warship, he can pilot it directly into battle should anything arise in the East Sea." "It is a pity the Myriad Beasts Sect only sold us a single vessel. If we had two, we could attempt to dismantle one, which would surely offer far greater help in researching manufacturing techniques," Tang Fenghua said. "The only reason the Myriad Beasts Sect agreed to sell us even this one is that we recently came into conflict with the Wuji Astral Palace. Unless we are willing to serve as vanguard against the Wuji Astral Palace like the Liusha Sect, the Taiyi Cult, or the Black Feather Sect—or act as cannon fodder to stall for time—the Myriad Beasts Sect will never grant us much support." Li Qingshan saw the situation with utter clarity. "Speaking of the Black Feather Sect..." Something seemed to strike Zhao Siliang, and he asked, "Did the Wuji Astral Palace not recently declare that remnants of the Liusha Sect are hiding within the Black Feather Sect? They are already deploying forces, preparing to launch a campaign against them, aren't they?" "Yes. The Black Feather Sect is their newly chosen prey," Li Qingshan said. "For our Nine Cauldrons Sect, this is not bad news. At least until the Wuji Astral Palace wipes out the Black Feather Sect, they shouldn't have much energy or resources to direct toward our Tianxing Continent." No one doubted whether the Wuji Astral Palace could destroy the Black Feather Sect. Even though the Black Feather Sect's strength was exceedingly close to that of a major sect, and it reigned supreme on the Heiyan Continent... Still... Even a genuine major sect as mighty as the Liusha Sect had been easily devoured and divided by the Wuji Astral Palace, thoroughly digested over the past dozen years. Much less a sect that merely approached the threshold of a major power. What people truly wondered... Was how long it would take the Wuji Astral Palace to digest the Black Feather Sect. "Seize this precious window of time to develop as quickly as possible. Once war formally erupts between the Wuji Astral Palace and the Black Feather Sect, your Jiuxiao Domain must push toward the East Sea. Reclaim all the islands we lost, and push outward as far as you can. At the very least... establish a line of defense in the East Sea Archipelago." Li Qingshan looked toward Zhao Siliang. "Understood. We will make thorough preparations." Zhao Siliang gave a solemn nod. Having the Wuji Astral Palace sail a sky-patrol warship directly over their heads... Was an ordeal none of them ever wanted to suffer a second time. *** After continuing for a brief while longer, the report drew to a close. Subsequently, under Li Qingshan's orders, all Rank 4 formation masters skilled in Spirit Gathering Formations were dispatched to the Jiuxiao Domain to study the layout methods for fourth-generation Spirit Gathering Formations under Yaoguang's instruction. Yaoguang... Conducted his teaching with earnest dedication. He also returned to Longxiang City, having them perform hands-on operations on the deactivated Rank 4 Spirit Gathering Formations there. This process lasted nearly half a year. During this half year, although production work at the Zixiao Institute was somewhat affected, two additional teams of Artifact Refining Grandmasters had been reassigned to assist, allowing them to complete three rounds of deliveries. The proceeds from these new shipments... Yaoguang poured directly into [Formations]. As a result, the formation masters learning from Yaoguang felt that new ideas sprouted from him almost daily, and every passing day brought him a different understanding of formations. Even the modified fourth-generation Rank 4 Spirit Gathering Formation seemed to show signs of gradually evolving toward a fifth-generation array. This jarring reality—where their own pace of learning could not even keep up with another person's rate of innovation—deeply impressed upon these formation grandmasters the sheer magnitude of the gulf between themselves and a true genius. During this period, several formation masters felt utterly demoralized. Yet others, after absorbing the advanced concepts Yaoguang taught, achieved direct breakthroughs in rank, leaping from Rank 3 to Rank 4, with several even jumping from Rank 4 to Rank 5. For a time, the deactivated Energy Department in Longxiang City was suffused with an atmosphere of intense study. The area practically became a holy ground in the hearts of formation masters dedicated to Spirit Gathering Formations, witnessing one after another successfully attain their personal breakthroughs. Just when many of the formation masters had roughly mastered the modifications for nearly fifth-generation formations, Yaoguang sought out Zhao Siliang once again. And brought him straight before a Rank 5 Spirit Gathering Formation. *** "As everyone knows, this spirit energy node is exhausted... The continuous operation of Spirit Gathering Formations damaged the region's original structure, causing the local space to compress and fold. The spirit energy that once leaked from these fissures can no longer be captured by standard Rank 5 Spirit Gathering Formations due to spatial deformation. However..." Addressing Zhao Siliang, Huang Wei, and Wu Xunzhen, who had arrived upon hearing the news, as well as Zi Qiangwei and Feng Yugong—who had recently become a Rank 5 formation master—Yaoguang pointed ahead. "Look..." "This..." Huang Wei stared at the slowly rotating Spirit Gathering Formation. "How is it producing spirit stones again?" "Quite simple. I modified this Rank 5 Spirit Gathering Formation, allowing it to embed itself deeply within the spatial fabric, thereby drawing out spirit energy and condensing spirit stones even from space that has undergone compression and folding." Yaoguang explained, "According to other sects' descriptions of the hallmarks of third-generation Rank 5 Spirit Gathering Formations—the capacity to extract spirit energy from slightly folded space—my modified formation draws energy by directly embedding itself into the spatial interior. It is not only faster in efficiency, but also offers greater stability, effectively leaping across two generations." He paused, then concluded his remarks: "Through this modification, we have overtaken the curve and optimized fourth-generation Rank 5 Spirit Gathering Formation technology! From this day forth, decommissioned nodes where folding and compression are not excessively severe can be brought back online!" Zhao Siliang, Huang Wei, and the others listened... And were struck utterly dumb.