Direct Perception

"It's finally appeared." Looking at the branch, Yaoguang felt a stir of emotion. He had been waiting for this branch for quite some time. Now, his wish was finally fulfilled. However... The emergence of the qi refining branch also brought bad news. "There won't be any hope for an alchemy branch for a long time to come." He glanced down at the pills Xu Qiexing had brought him. These medicinal pills had been crafted by Wu Qingying, the Hall Master of the Alchemy Hall... For a hall master to personally concoct pills for him was certainly no small privilege. Yet... Wu Qingying's skill was passable when it came to qi-refining-grade pills, but once it reached the Foundation Establishment level, she was visibly lacking. Especially when it came to pills that could improve one's foundation and bolster one's reserves, hers were hardly presentable. If anyone else were to rely solely on pills concocted by this Alchemy Hall master throughout their cultivation, their progress would be considerably slower, and their chances of establishing a Dao Foundation would drop drastically, to say nothing of an Immortal Foundation. Even Yaoguang... Unless he was willing to grind away for ten to twenty years, relying on this hall master's pills would make establishing an Immortal Foundation an impossible dream. After pondering for a moment, Yaoguang turned his thoughts toward the Immortal Alliance. Among the Six Great Immortal Sects of today, the Golden Divine Temple was already a skeleton in a tomb, kept afloat entirely by their Golden Core ancestor. The Taiyin Sect and the Fatian Pavilion were slightly better off than the Golden Divine Temple, but both could still be described as waning suns sinking in the west. Setting Golden Core combat power aside, it was a toss-up whether their conventional forces could even overcome the Great Sun Sword Sect. The only truly formidable ones were the Myriad Beasts Sect, the Immortal Alliance, and the Wuji Astral Palace. Among them, the Myriad Beasts Sect specialized in beast taming. Within its borders dwelled more than a dozen—perhaps even twenty—divine beast-level entities, each rivaling a first-generation Star God. However, divine beasts simply could not evolve and iterate as rapidly as humans; as time passed, the Myriad Beasts Sect was destined to be left behind by the march of progress. The Immortal Alliance, for its part, was of considerable scale. Its alchemy arts were second to none under heaven. Even the Wuji Astral Palace fell a step short of them in the Dao of Alchemy. However, the Immortal Alliance was fundamentally a coalition; its internal eight great clans were by no means of one mind, and their degree of unity was questionable at best. Moreover, the Immortal Alliance and the Myriad Beasts Sect were bitter blood enemies. Locked in ceaseless hostility, neither could spare much energy to contest for world hegemony. The two factions' mutual hostility and attrition had instead allowed the Wuji Astral Palace to grow unchecked. By now, the Astral Palace was so powerful that it stood entirely in a league of its own. This was readily apparent from how effortlessly they had mobilized over a dozen sky-patrol warships to blockade the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Because many senior figures among the sects had heard of the century pact implicitly agreed upon by the Golden Cores, several smaller sects, bullish on the Wuji Astral Palace's future, were eager to pledge their loyalty and join its camp. This was true of the Xuanming Sect, and even the Great Sun Sword Sect and the Shouyang Sect maintained close ties with the Wuji Astral Palace. "The Nine Cauldrons Sect aligns itself more with the Myriad Beasts Sect. Under these circumstances, if the Nine Cauldrons Sect wants to purchase the Immortal Alliance's truly top-tier pills—namely, high-grade precious pills of the third generation and above—it will certainly cost an astronomical sum. In fact... the Dengxian Towers within the Nine Cauldrons Sect don't even stock them; one would have to travel to the neighboring Astral Sea Sect to buy them." Yaoguang reflected. Perhaps... Could the Nine Cauldrons Sect poach a few alchemists from the Immortal Alliance? With his current abilities, pinpointing the locations of the Immortal Alliance's top alchemists was not difficult. He would just have to be careful not to provoke the Immortal Alliance into turning hostile and causing unnecessary trouble. "This can only be treated as a contingency plan to be carried out as circumstances permit." As Yaoguang was making plans, Bailu's divine mind voice came from outside. "Hall Master, Hall Master Xu has arrived. He brought Prince Chu Guang of the Taixuan Dynasty to the reception area outside the research institute. Word is that the prince intends to place a massive order with our Zixiao Institute." "All right." Yaoguang gathered his thoughts. A distinguished guest had arrived at his doorstep; naturally, he could not neglect him. Although the Taixuan Dynasty was on par with the Xuanming Sect in size, its internal wealth was concentrated entirely in the hands of the royal family. If they were truly willing to spend lavishly, it would indeed amount to a substantial order. With that, he stepped out of the Third Research Institute and made his way to a building outside specifically designated for receiving visiting guests. At that moment, in the drawing room of the building, Xu Qiexing was conversing with a middle-aged man draped in jewels and fine silks. Judging from their demeanor, this was the major client placing the order, Chu Guang. Behind them stood several assistants and bodyguards. However, as his gaze swept past a man dressed as a bodyguard, he keenly sensed something. Information transmission. This bodyguard was rapidly relaying messages outward. Even though these divine mind messages were being transmitted via magical tools, the medium of transmission was none other than the Virtual Spirit Realm. With a shift of thought, Yaoguang saw right through the Virtual Spirit Realm, tracing the message back to its destination based on the bodyguard's link. As his gaze swept over it, he discovered to his astonishment... This bodyguard from the Taixuan Dynasty was actually a spy from the Great Sun Sword Sect! And the purpose of their trip was to abduct him! The message the man was broadcasting right now was sent because he had "spotted" Yaoguang, relaying the alert to the delegation Chu Guang had brought. After a brief screening, Yaoguang discovered to his speechless amusement that out of the thirty-odd members of the delegation Chu Guang had brought, nine belonged to the Great Sun Sword Sect. Pausing his divine mind on those nine individuals for a moment, he detected something else. Following the traces left by their transmissions, he quickly located sixteen Great Cultivators who had infiltrated and concealed themselves within a hundred li of the reception area. In other words, the Great Sun Sword Sect had mobilized twenty-six Great Cultivators just to abduct him? What was more... Extending his Awareness a bit further toward the waters of the East Sea, he soon discovered that the sky-patrol warship Jingang had somehow already closed in on the Jiuxiao Domain, less than three thousand li away. It seemed to have activated an information black domain several hours earlier, which had completely slipped past the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Heavenly Palace Hall. *Aside from the Jingang, they've deployed three battle units as well...* Yaoguang swiftly saw through the Great Sun Sword Sect's deployment. When a Dharma Idol cast their gaze upon an area, all secrets were laid bare unless an entity of the same Dharma Idol level obscured them. Considering that the Great Sun Sword Sect had stirred up trouble on the border months ago, likely to facilitate this very operation, it was almost hard to believe how much importance they placed on him. Amid his thoughts, Yaoguang greeted Xu Qiexing with a smile and began discussing the export of Zixiao flying swords with Chu Guang. Simultaneously, his divine mind reached out without delay to Tang Fenghua, Wang Feng, as well as Lou Yuyu, Shen Qinglian, and Li Qingshan. Within the Virtual Spirit Realm! Figure after figure manifested. "I'll make this brief." Yaoguang quickly explained what he had discovered. Upon learning that the Great Sun Sword Sect had actually dispatched twenty-six Great Cultivators to lurk right outside the Third Research Institute, Li Qingshan, Lou Yuyu, Tang Fenghua, and the others all darkened with anger. "The Great Sun Sword Sect is truly audacious! They have no regard for our Nine Cauldrons Sect whatsoever!" Tang Fenghua barked coldly. "Now is not the time for outrage. I have already seen through the enemy's movements and intentions; the question now is how we plan to deal with them," Yaoguang said. "Since you have a clear grasp of the whole situation, what do you propose?" Li Qingshan asked. Yaoguang glanced at Tang Fenghua. "With you and Zhenhai Courtyard at hand, twenty-six Great Cultivators from the Great Sun Sword Sect aren't even worth mentioning. Therefore, my thought is to turn their own scheme against them and make the Great Sun Sword Sect pay a catastrophic price!" "Turn their scheme against them..." "Yes. I've already intercepted their communications through the Virtual Spirit Realm. The Jingang received orders from their War Hall's deputy hall master: if necessary, the Jingang will bear down upon us, penetrating deep into our Nine Cauldrons Sect's interior. At the same time, the Shenfeng, Shenmu, and Shenshan Institutes will coordinate along the route... Aside from Zhenhai Courtyard, the forces we have deployed here include the Shenwei Institute and Qingfeng Institute..." At this point, Yaoguang looked toward Lou Yuyu and Shen Qinglian. "The crux of the matter now is whether the battle institutes under your command can hold off the three battle institutes from the Great Sun Sword Sect." At those words, Lou Yuyu and Shen Qinglian exchanged a glance and laughed with confidence. "If you had asked us this three years ago, we could only have told you that we'd fight to the death... But now, both the Shenwei Institute and the Qingfeng Institute have completed their rearmament. Even if they aren't equipped with Zixiao-16 flying swords, the advantage conferred by the upgraded Zixiao-15 flying swords makes holding off their three battle institutes a foregone conclusion. If we receive sufficient support from Origin Spirit cultivators, we might even wipe out all three battle institutes entirely." "Then it will be simple," Yaoguang said. "I will lure the Jingang deep into our Nine Cauldrons Sect's interior. As for the battlefield... let's keep it in Longxiang City." He smiled faintly. "After the expansion two years ago, Zhenhai Courtyard now boasts eighty-one Great Sword Cultivators, seventy-two spell cultivators, and eighteen Origin Spirit cultivators. Its combat strength is far from what it once was. Moreover, thanks to the presence of the Zixiao Institute, Longxiang City has had many formations added to it. Amplified by these formations, the combat power Zhenhai Courtyard can unleash will increase exponentially. I am ninety-nine percent certain we can capture the Jingang directly!" "Capture it?! Capture the Jingang?!" Lou Yuyu's eyes filled with disbelief. "That's a third-generation warship!" "Zhenhai Courtyard managed to capture the Chunyu even before its expansion. Now that its scale has expanded and the formations of Longxiang City are at our disposal, I have no doubt regarding Hall Master Yaoguang's claim that we can capture the Jingang," Li Qingshan said with a smile. Compared to Lou Yuyu, Shen Qinglian, and the others, he was well aware that Yaoguang was not only a formation grandmaster, but also a Dharma Idol cultivator. With a Dharma Idol cultivator leading the charge, aided by the amplification of formations, capturing a third-generation sky-patrol warship was entirely natural. "The Great Sun Sword Sect is truly generous. Knowing our third-generation warship technology still has gaps to fill, they're sending one right to our doorstep," he remarked. "As expected, once we capture the Jingang, the Great Sun Sword Sect will certainly be backed into a corner and lash out. Therefore... Sect Master Li, please prepare for all-out war with the Great Sun Sword Sect," Yaoguang said. Li Qingshan nodded. "Over this period, we've already expanded two battle institutes, Zhanlu and Chunjun. I will personally lead these two institutes along with the Sword-Bearing Institute to the Jiuxiao Domain. Their warship Jingang is planning to sail right into the interior of our Nine Cauldrons Sect—are they trying to emulate the Wuji Astral Palace bearing down upon our gates? They clearly hold us in complete contempt! If it comes to war, our Nine Cauldrons Sect will see it through to the bitter end." "Once things are settled here, I'll have someone pilot the Myriad Beasts Sect's first-generation warship along with the Chunyu to reinforce you," Yaoguang added. "Good!" Li Qingshan nodded. With that, the group discussed several specific details, planning how to shut the door and beat the dog, dealing a heavy blow to the Great Sun Sword Sect. It would be best if they could use this opportunity to drive the Great Sun Sword Sect out of the East Sea entirely. Once the East Sea was reclaimed, the Nine Cauldrons Sect would gain more than a dozen intact spiritual power nodes and numerous less stable ones. When that time came, the Nine Cauldrons Sect's spirit stone output would increase by more than forty percent over its current levels.