Delight

Half an hour later. The Shenfeng Courtyard, arriving in haste, met up with the panicking remnants of the Shenhuo Courtyard. Only... Looking at what remained of the Shenhuo Courtyard—having marched out at full strength, only to return with fewer than thirty Great Cultivators—everyone's expressions turned exceedingly grim. Even the First Seat of Shenhuo Courtyard, despite having escaped with his life, was no exception. His face was pale. He seemed all too aware of what fate awaited him after suffering such a disastrous defeat. Yet a moment later, as if suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly said to the First Seat of Shenfeng Courtyard, "Quick! Have the Origin Spirit cultivators from your Shenmu Courtyard contact Hall Master Chisongzi! I have critical intelligence to report to him!" "No need for you to reach out. The Hall Master has questions for you as well." As the First Seat of Shenfeng Courtyard spoke, an Origin Spirit cultivator stepped forward and operated an instrument, quickly projecting Chisongzi's figure. "Good! Truly wonderful! I ordered you to pin down the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Sword-Bearing Institute, and this is how you pinned them down?! Out of sixty-six sword cultivators, thirty-five were lost; out of thirty-two spell cultivators, thirty were lost; and all ten Origin Spirit cultivators were wiped out completely! Heishan! You owe me an explanation!" "A spirit treasure! Beyond the eight exposed spirit treasures, the Nine Cauldrons Sect has yet another spirit treasure!" the First Seat of Shenhuo Courtyard, addressed as Heishan, spoke in a rush. "A spirit treasure capable of amplifying divine mind and boosting the power of Origin Spirit cultivators!" "A spirit treasure?" Chisongzi's brow furrowed. "Yes! Although our brave warriors of Shenhuo Courtyard struggled terribly to withstand the Sword-Bearing Institute's assault, we were still holding on tenaciously. But because of that spirit treasure, all our Origin Spirit cultivators were suppressed in an instant! It was the straw that broke the camel's back, and that was what led to our disastrous defeat..." Heishan offered his emphatic, rapid explanation. Chisongzi recalled that Baishi had also remarked that the enemy's Origin Spirit cultivators had demonstrated prowess far exceeding their own. Could it be... that this too was because of that spirit treasure? At this thought, his tone softened slightly. "Perhaps there are extenuating circumstances. Yet the fact remains that your defeat cost our Great Sun Sword Sect so many brave warriors. Return to the sect and accept the punishment you deserve." "Understood," Heishan replied, bowing his head. ... In the Virtual Spirit Realm. The Hall Masters who had partitioned their attention to await firsthand reports were now completely dumbfounded. In particular, War Hall Deputy Hall Master Lou Yuyu, who was leading forces toward the Xuanming Sect, had his head full of question marks. "So... in Zhenhai Courtyard's battle, not only did they crush the Chunyu's dozens of Great Cultivators and over three thousand high-level cultivators, but they even captured the Chunyu, a sky-patrol warship equipped with second-generation technology? And the Sword-Bearing Institute routed the Shenhuo Courtyard as well? Even if they couldn't wipe them out entirely, the damage was enough to shatter Shenhuo Courtyard's roster and reduce them to a second-rate battle institute?" "It was all thanks to the spirit treasure, the Origin Realm. Otherwise, such a glorious victory would never have been possible," Li Qingshan said with a smile. "So, Hall Master Yaoguang, does that mean we will soon possess a second-generation sky-patrol warship?!" Xu Qiexing immediately swung his gaze toward Yaoguang. Yaoguang nodded. "Yes. Under the spirit treasure's concealment, the warship is returning to the sect at full speed. It will dock at the Third Sky-Patrol Research Institute." With that, he said to Jiang Zhuoyue, "Hall Master Jiang, please help cover its tracks. It's best if we keep this hidden for a while." Jiang Zhuoyue immediately replied, "Leave it to me. I guarantee it will arrive smoothly at the Third Sky-Patrol Research Institute without attracting any notice." Listening to the conversation among Yaoguang, Li Qingshan, and Xu Qiexing, Administrative Affairs Hall Master Zhang Ruosheng felt somewhat dazed. "Has our Nine Cauldrons Sect... already grown this strong?" "This is all thanks to First Seat Yaoguang! Through this battle, Zhenhai Courtyard has proven to the world that under the amplification of First Seat Yaoguang's special talent, their combat strength surpasses even the Sword-Bearing Institute. They are the premier battle institute of our Nine Cauldrons Sect!" Li Qingshan declared. Hearing this, everyone pondered briefly and nodded in deep agreement. The Sword-Bearing Institute might have been able to defeat the Chunyu, a second-generation sky-patrol warship, but they could never have captured it intact. From that perspective alone, Zhenhai Courtyard truly deserved the title of premier battle institute. "In my view, we must replenish Zhenhai Courtyard's ranks as soon as possible, replacing everyone with rank-three Great Cultivators, and perhaps even adding some rank-four Great Cultivators," Li Qingshan said with a chuckle. "If Zhenhai Courtyard had possessed the scale of the Sword-Bearing Institute this time, forget a single Chunyu—even the Great Sun Sword Sect's Vajra sky-patrol warship, which launched to reinforce them, might have fallen into First Seat Yaoguang's grasp." "I agree," Liang Qiu chimed in immediately. "It so happens that tensions between us and the Great Sun Sword Sect have reached a breaking point. It's time we invited those Great Cultivators hidden among the populace to join us and form new battle institutes." "Indeed. Previously, we didn't invite them to form battle institutes partly because we needed to keep a low profile and conceal our strength, and partly because we lacked sufficient flying swords to equip them. They possessed rank-three strength in name only; against rank-three Great Cultivators from the Great Sun Sword Sect... no, even against those from the Xuanming Sect, they might not have prevailed..." Xu Qiexing also spoke up. A look of wistfulness crossed his face. "Yet things are different now. On one hand, to reclaim the East Sea and defend it going forward, we must possess greater strength. On the other hand, high-grade, high-tier flying swords are being manufactured rapidly and will soon be ready to equip them. Therefore, my recommendation is to reorganize Zhenhai Courtyard and establish two additional elite battle institutes." Their words drew nods from Li Qingshan, Huang Tianhao, Lou Yuyu, and the others. The larger the territory, the greater the strength required to defend it; adding two elite battle institutes was indeed essential. "Let us expand Zhenhai Courtyard by fifty-one members beyond its original foundation," Yaoguang said. "Give me nine sword cultivators, thirty-six spell cultivators, and six Origin Spirit cultivators." "Oh? You can command that many?" Lou Yuyu's eyes lit up. "I can," Yaoguang nodded. He remarked with some emotion, "If Zhenhai Courtyard had fielded such a lineup this time, what we captured would probably not have been limited to the Chunyu. Had the Vajra dared to show up, it too would have become our trophy. When that happened, the sect would have suddenly possessed three sky-patrol warships." Three sky-patrol warships! Zhang Ruosheng's eyes widened. "We... could actually have three sky-patrol warships?!" Across the entire Cangwu World, big and small sects numbered in the thousands. Yet many sects were so weak that they were barely stronger than the Hundred Refinements Sect. Those truly qualified for recognition were only the two hundred or so sects belonging to the Cangwu League. And even among those two hundred-odd sects, those possessing three or more sky-patrol warships could be counted on one's fingers. Li Qingshan glanced at Yaoguang, then turned his gaze back to Zhang Ruosheng, smiling. "The Nine Cauldrons Sect grows stronger with every passing moment. I believe three sky-patrol warships are not our ceiling. In the future, we will certainly have more—four, five, six, or even ten sky-patrol warships are by no means an extravagant dream." "Even more sky-patrol warships..." Zhang Ruosheng murmured to himself, "If the day truly comes when ten sky-patrol warships of our Nine Cauldrons Sect share the sky, I can die with no regrets." In today's world, possessing ten sky-patrol warships already placed a sect among the paramount immortal sects. In fact, even the Golden Divine Temple, a paramount immortal sect, could not scrape together ten sky-patrol warships. "That day will come," Yaoguang answered. He looked toward the Master of the Heritage Hall. "Hall Master Zhu, please have Heritage Hall coordinate as well and dispatch enough personnel to the Third Research Institute. As for the Myriad Beasts Sect's sky-patrol warship... let's stop studying it and put it directly into service. Every day of service counts. We'll study this Chunyu warship directly. When we manufacture sky-patrol warships in the future, we can start straight from second-generation vessels." "Understood. The experts on sky-patrol warships from all the courtyards are already gathered at the Third Research Institute," Zhu Yanyu nodded. "However... won't jumping straight into studying the Chunyu be too big a leap? After all, over the years, our research into sky-patrol warships has focused on first-generation vessels..." "No matter. I've been studying this warship the entire journey and discovered that its technical bottlenecks are not as numerous as imagined. Many formation grandmasters and grandmasters of artifact refining in our sect are capable of arranging those formations and refining the materials required for the ship," Yaoguang said. "Arranging the formations and refining the materials for first- and second-generation sky-patrol warships isn't difficult. The crucial challenge is making all the formations and materials cooperate seamlessly so that they function as one," Gao Shenghan remarked with emotion. "If we compare an individual formation or artifact component to an elite soldier, then even a first-generation sky-patrol warship is equivalent to an army of tens of thousands. Commanding one person is something anyone can do, but ensuring that an army of tens of thousands operates smoothly—how much does the difficulty skyrocket then?" Yaoguang understood Gao Shenghan's point. Technically, first- and second-generation sky-patrol warships were indeed not overly complex. Yet combining all those technologies demanded an extraordinarily broad foundation of knowledge from the artificer. One had to possess a deep understanding of every single formation and artifact refining technique before one could coordinate and assemble all the formations and components. Leave aside ordinary formation masters and artifact refiners; even grandmaster-level figures typically mastered only one or two specific fields. Faced with a national treasure that represented the culmination of both artifact refining and formations, they could only stare in helplessness. Yet... Just because they couldn't do it didn't mean Yaoguang couldn't. Breadth of knowledge? Setting other disciplines aside, when it came to artifact refining and formations, if he took second place in the entire Cangwu Great World, no one would dare claim first. "Very well. Hall Master Jiang, prepare for the Great Sun Sword Sect to stir up trouble in the days ahead. Once you return from the Xuanming Sect, Lou Yuyu, the sect will recuperate for a period. The next time we launch a large-scale operation, we should see the day the East Sea Archipelago is fully reclaimed," Li Qingshan said. "Understood!" Jiang Zhuoyue replied solemnly. Having lost a sky-patrol warship and suffered heavy casualties, the Great Sun Sword Sect was unlikely to swallow this bitter pill easily. Next, it would come down to whether the Nine Cauldrons Sect could safely counter whatever moves the Great Sun Sword Sect made. "Hall Master Lou, our matter here is resolved. Now it's up to how well you perform over at the Xuanming Sect," Li Qingshan said with a smile, turning toward Lou Yuyu. "We will certainly not disappoint the Sect Master or Hall Master Yaoguang."