Forging Swords

Seeing his impassioned display, the other students could no longer sit still. "They've already engaged?" "How long has it been since First Seat Shen led the forces out? They've already clashed? And there's already an outcome?" "So fast? Was the Xuanming Sect wiped out in an instant?" Murmurs and chatter erupted in every corner. Some of the quicker-witted students immediately accessed the Virtual Spirit Realm through the devices in their hands. Although cultivators who had not developed divine sense or divine mind could not enter the Virtual Spirit Realm directly, they could use devices to browse the realm's information via light projections, video, and text. As the students browsed, gasps of astonishment rose and fell across the vast lecture hall in an endless wave. "Holy crap! They really fought—and we won!" "I just contacted a buddy of mine who spends all his time in the campaign forums. He said not only did we win, but it was a complete, overwhelming victory! At a conservative estimate, the Xuanming Sect lost more than two combat courtyards, while our side reportedly suffered fewer than twenty casualties! A record like that is practically defying the heavens!" "I knew it! Ever since we lost those islands in the East Sea, I knew the sect was biding its time for a major move! A tiny Xuanming Sect actually dared provoke us in the East Sea? They had a death wish! Turns out the sect was waiting right here! Either we don't fight at all, or the moment we strike, we inflict devastating losses on them! Hahaha, let's see if they dare act arrogant in the East Sea now!" "If the news you got is true, this goes far beyond devastating losses! The Xuanming Sect concentrated its elites in the East Sea. Every Great Cultivator there was frontline elite, and those stationed on Fangyuan Island were the elite of the elite. If two combat courtyards were truly wiped out, the Xuanming Sect has essentially been crippled—broken beyond repair!" The students seemed to turn into battlefield pundits, debating with fervent excitement. Listening to their conversation, the lecturer also realized the immense weight this news carried. The deployment of Great Cultivators from the War Hall beyond the Jiuxiao Domain had drawn tremendous attention from everyone across the domain. Combined with the fact that this battle concerned the Nine Cauldrons Sect's prestige and whether they could reclaim the East Sea Archipelago in the days ahead, the gravity of the development only heightened further. They had originally assumed this clash between the Nine Cauldrons Sect and the Xuanming Sect would involve back-and-forth skirmishes lasting a month or two before an outcome emerged. Who could have expected... How much time had passed?! At that moment, unable to mind anything else, he quickly accessed the Virtual Spirit Realm to review the detailed reports himself. Before long, a message arrived on his communication device. It was an assignment handed down from above. They were instructed to prepare several special reports to publish on the academy's portal within the Virtual Spirit Realm. Seeing this task, the lecturer felt a surge of energy. "Fantastic." He turned his gaze toward Su Yaoshuang. "You and Zhang Yao's group will follow up on this assignment. Do everything you can to gather detailed information on this battle. I will assist you. Given how much attention this news is drawing, doing a good job will be a brilliant addition to your resumes." "I'll do my best," Su Yaoshuang said hurriedly. "Good. The few of you, go gather information now." With that, the lecturer swiftly announced self-study and left the room. He knew that with such exhilarating news breaking, the students would hardly have the focus to listen to his lecture anyway. And in truth, that was precisely the case. Not only in their large lecture hall, but across other classrooms and academic buildings, uncontrollable cheers soon erupted. Every student was thrilled and proud of the brilliant victory the sect had achieved in the East Sea. As the news continued to ferment, some students even left their classrooms of their own accord, heading to open courtyards and athletic fields across the campus to celebrate. The entire academy was steeped in an atmosphere of jubilation. Beyond the academy, Longxiang City and the other cities across the Jiuxiao Domain were no different. Cheering crowds spontaneously took to the streets to vent their joy. Many public venues like bars and entertainment lounges were packed to capacity, overflowing with celebrants. Ever since the Wuji Astral Palace's sky-patrol warship had loomed at their doorstep, everyone in the Jiuxiao Domain had been trapped beneath a suffocating pall of suppression. Especially Longxiang City... In the battleground a thousand li away, an untold number of small towns had been wiped out by the aftershocks of combat. And living in those towns had been the parents, wives, and children of countless laborers working in Longxiang City. Yet simply because of that single arrival of the Wuji Astral Palace at their doorstep, countless families had been torn apart and destroyed. One could easily imagine the heavy gloom that had settled over Longxiang City. Under such circumstances, Longxiang City desperately needed a resounding victory, and the Jiuxiao Domain needed a triumph to dispel the dark clouds cast by the Wuji Astral Palace. It was precisely for this reason that the External Publicity Hall had released the news publicly. And it was precisely why, once the news broke, Longxiang City and the entire Jiuxiao Domain erupted in boundless elation, the whole city celebrating in unison. ... Inside the Zixiao Institute. With his keen senses, Yaoguang noticed the cheering echoing across Longxiang City. After sweeping over the area with his divine mind, he soon turned his attention back to the East Sea battlefield. By now, however, the East Sea battlefield had entered its mop-up phase. Led by Shen Qinglian, the forces had swept through the Xuanming Sect's garrison on Fangyuan Island like dry weeds. Although Fangyuan Island possessed several Rank 5 formations, unleashing their full power required sufficient strength. Moreover... Fangyuan Island had originally been one of the strongholds the Nine Cauldrons Sect intended to establish in the East Sea, so the formation masters knew those formations intimately. Leaving aside the fact that no Xuanming Sect Great Cultivators remained to garrison the island, even if there had been, breaching those formations would not have taken much time. "Next will be clearing the remaining islands and guarding against counterattacks from the other factions in the East Sea Archipelago..." Yaoguang mused. Still, the other factions were no great concern. Under the deterrent of the Nine Cauldrons Sect shattering nearly half of the Xuanming Sect's strength in one stroke, factions like the Astral Sea Sect, the Great Yue Dynasty, and the Ancient Immortal Sect would never dare act rashly. The one they truly needed to be wary of was the Great Sun Sword Sect. "In both individual caliber and equipment, the Great Sun Sword Sect's cultivators are a cut above the current Nine Cauldrons Sect. Furthermore, the Great Sun Sword Sect has Heavenly Palace cultivators. Completely cutting off their communications, altering their tactics, or feeding them false orders like we did against the Xuanming Sect would likely prove quite difficult..." And once they failed to completely suppress the Great Sun Sword Sect's transmission of information, his existence as a "Dharma Idol cultivator" would be exposed. Of course, what would be exposed first was the Dharma Idol spirit treasure wielded by Li Qingshan. Even so, that meant the time until he confronted other Dharma Idols directly was not far off. "We'll see how long Sect Master Li's cover can hold out," Yaoguang murmured, casting a glance at his progress in [Artifact Refining]. He needed to raise it to the level of a Rank 10 artifact refiner as quickly as possible. At the same time... He also needed to keep pushing forward on the [Martial Path]. Although relying on the Astral Core and numerous cultivation resources allowed him to advance swiftly, cultivating to become a Star God would still take considerable time. Thus, he wanted to use a breakthrough in realm, just as he had in the Yaoguang Realm, to find methods that could accelerate his martial progress. If his realm could reach above the Star God stage first, he would surely be able to identify numerous techniques to compress the time required to cultivate through the Star Lord stage. "Hall Master Yaoguang." As Yaoguang was pondering, Master Yun Lai's voice came from outside. His tone carried a hint of excitement. "It is complete! Under your guidance, Hall Master, and with the practical efforts of Grandmaster Dong Liushui and the others, the first Generation 4 superior Treasure Weapon flying sword developed entirely by us has been finished..." "Oh?" Yaoguang looked up slightly. "Finished at last?" The East Sea no longer required his constant surveillance, so he stepped out, nodded to Yun Lai and the others waiting at the door, and headed straight for the experimental workshop. Several dozen people were already gathered inside the experimental workshop, the weakest among them being Grandmasters of Artifact Refining like Yun Lai. Leading them were several Artifact Refining Grandmasters like Dong Liushui. The entire workshop was divided into several sections. Some areas refined metals, some synthesized materials, and others inscribed formation patterns. "First Seat is here." "What First Seat? It's Hall Master! Address him as Hall Master!" "Hasn't every single one of us seen remarkable growth in our artifact refining skills lately? And that growth is all thanks to Hall Master Yaoguang's continuous guidance. To us, Hall Master Yaoguang is equivalent to a mentor; we ought to call him Teacher." As Yaoguang arrived, everyone greeted him warmly and parted to clear the way to the central workbench. There, led by the Artifact Refining Grandmaster Dong Liushui, several people were gathered around a flying sword, conducting their final inspection as though examining a priceless treasure. "Hall Master Yaoguang, regarding the modified Zixiao-15 flying sword, we have lived up to our mission—we completed it!" Dong Liushui said excitedly, holding up the sword. "Good!" Yaoguang nodded. In truth, he had possessed the capability to manufacture the Zixiao-15 long ago. Right now, however, he had far too many matters demanding his attention. He had to instruct Gao Shenghan and the other Mystic Formation Hall formation masters on modifying the spirit-gathering formations, monitor intelligence in the Virtual Spirit Realm, keep part of his attention on the shifting situation across the East Sea Archipelago, and spend time advancing his own Star Lord cultivation. As for artifact refining... Though important, he had no choice but to delegate the various tasks to the other Grandmasters of Artifact Refining and Artifact Refining Grandmasters. He only needed to handle the final assembly and inscribe the formation patterns from the Myriad Spirit Sovereign. In this manner, dedicating only a fraction of his attention was enough to keep the Zixiao Institute operating normally and produce modified Zixiao-15 flying swords in a steady stream. "A Generation 4 flying sword..." An Artifact Refining Grandmaster beside Dong Liushui sighed with deep emotion. "It's truly hard to believe that we could take a single leap to forge a Generation 4 superior Treasure Weapon flying sword. Just a year or two ago, we lacked the capability to produce even Generation 2 inferior Treasure Weapon flying swords. The occasional one or two we managed to craft in the laboratory were achieved purely by piling on premium materials, running costs into the hundreds of thousands, with zero feasibility for production. But now..." "A Generation 4 flying sword? You underestimate this weapon!" Dong Liushui's eyes gleamed brightly. "Like the modified Zixiao Type 12, this sword possesses the immense advantage of high compatibility with divine mind and divine sense. When our Origin Soul cultivators gain the upper hand, the power this sword can unleash will rival that of a Generation 5 flying sword! Do you realize what that means?!" He continued with fervent intensity, "It means a Rank 2 Great Sword Cultivator of ours can wield this sword to rival Rank 4 Great Sword Cultivators equipped only with Generation 1 superior Treasure Weapons! Even against the elites of the Great Sun Sword Sect, they can still fight one against three!" Fighting one against three, even against the elites of the Great Sun Sword Sect! Those words caused the breath of every artifact refiner in the room to hitch. The Great Sun Sword Sect was the greatest obstacle to the Nine Cauldrons Sect reclaiming the East Sea. If the sword cultivators of the Nine Cauldrons Sect could truly fight the Great Sun Sword Sect one against three... The reclamation of the East Sea was just around the corner!