A Decision

"……" Tang Fenghua’s mouth twitched. Wasn't getting stuck on alchemy refinement techniques for eight or ten years completely normal? Then again, considering the speed of Yaoguang’s cultivation progress... Fair enough. Compared to this hall master, Hall Master Wu Qingying... truly wasn't living up to expectations. Just then, as if receiving some piece of news, Yaoguang shifted his consciousness and manifested inside the Virtual Spirit Realm. Inside the Virtual Spirit Realm, Li Qingshan had already arrived. Besides Li Qingshan, several hall master-level figures—Zhou Lijian, Jiang Zhuoyue, and Lou Yuyu—were also present. Seeing Yaoguang arrive, Li Qingshan spoke with a solemn expression: "Not long ago, we signed an order with the Taiyin Sect. They put up one hundred million to purchase three hundred Zixiao-15 export-model flying swords from us, with delivery agreed within half a year. Since the friction between the Taiyin Sect and Fatian Pavilion has grown increasingly pronounced lately, we assumed their internal consumption of flying swords had outpaced supply, prompting them to place an urgent order. We never imagined... it was an outright trap." He said in a deep voice, "Just moments ago, the Wuji Astral Palace joined forces with the Immortal Alliance, the Taiyin Sect, and numerous factions including the Shouyang Sect, Great Sun Sword Sect, Taiyi Sect, and Yatai Dynasty to jointly announce a decision: a comprehensive embargo on all our Nine Cauldrons Sect's purchases of artifact-crafting raw materials, alchemy ingredients, and array-carving supplies! Deprived of these materials, our efficiency in forging those three hundred flying swords will take a severe hit. This order..." He turned his gaze toward Yaoguang. "That order?" The order totaled a staggering one hundred million. When it was signed, Yaoguang had naturally been present. At the time of signing, the contract stipulated that for each day overdue, a penalty equal to one percent of the total order value had to be paid. Xu Qiexing had felt the penalty was a bit steep, but since he believed forging three hundred Zixiao-15 export flying swords in six months wouldn't be difficult, he hadn't dwelled on such fine print. Looking at it now... It had been premeditated all along. "This must be the Wuji Astral Palace's counterattack," Yaoguang said. Li Qingshan nodded. "Indeed, a retaliation for our continuous encroachments on their artifact-crafting market. I just never expected that the esteemed Taiyin Sect would collude with the Wuji Astral Palace to set such a trap for us." "Which materials are affected? How severe is the impact?" Yaoguang asked. Li Qingshan quickly provided a detailed list. Yaoguang glanced through it, pondered for a moment, and said, "It shouldn't be too big a problem. I can forge these artifact components myself; I only delegated the work to save time. If I put in extra hours over the next six months, the quota can be met. However..." He paused. "Going forward, this kind of thing will likely become frequent. Even though the Wuji Astral Palace hasn't extracted itself from the quagmire of war with the Black Feather Sect, it is already using its influence to hem us in on every front. For the foreseeable future, we are bound to face a rough time." Several hall masters nodded in deep agreement. "In the past, the Wuji Astral Palace didn't take us seriously at all," sighed Zhou Lijian of the External Publicity Hall. "They didn't even have the interest to suppress us through other means, assuming that once they freed their hands from the Black Feather Sect, they could wipe us out with ease. But over these past five years, the Vajra—or rather, the Golden Body sky-patrol warship—and the Longxiang, a third-generation sky-patrol warship developed entirely in-house, took to the skies one after another. Our Nine Cauldrons Sect now boasts four sky-patrol warships, two of which are third-generation. The Wuji Astral Palace has no choice but to take us seriously." He was not sure whether being targeted by the Wuji Astral Palace through means outside of direct military action was pressure or an honor. "We should count ourselves fortunate that their combat strength is pinned down by the Black Feather Sect on the Heiyan Continent," Jiang Zhuoyue noted. "Otherwise, their pressure wouldn't remain on the economic level; a military blockade would follow right behind." "Speaking of which, the Wuji Astral Palace is blockading us because we poached their artifact-crafting market, but what business is it of the Immortal Alliance and the Taiyin Sect to jump in on the fun?" Lou Yuyu frowned. "Aren't we one of the Immortal Alliance's major clients? Yaoguang in particular—which year does he not spend tens of millions at Dengxian Tower?! Even if the purchases are for specialized pills, out of those tens of millions of spirit stones, they still pocket at least six million in profit! A client generating such massive profits year after year, and they drop us just like that?" "I'll speak with the person in charge at Dengxian Tower," Yaoguang said. "If I'm not mistaken, the Immortal Alliance has caught wind of the massive pill deficit created by our promotion of the new cultivation method," Li Qingshan said, looking at Yaoguang. "Furthermore, they must have realized your cultivation is on the verge of reaching the Star God realm. If you ask them, they might even claim production has dropped for the pills you need most, and if you want to buy them, the price will go up by thirty percent." These words left Jiang Zhuoyue, Lou Yuyu, and Zhou Lijian speechless for a moment. Yaoguang fell silent as well. After a long while, he shared a communication record: "I contacted Moore, head of Dengxian Tower on the Tianxing Continent and Deputy Director of the Market Department of the Immortal Alliance's Logistics Hall. Their markup isn't just thirty percent—it's fifty percent." The hall masters read it over, each breaking into cold scoffs. "A fifty percent increase on top of the original price?! How extortionate!" "I knew they would make exorbitant demands, but to quote a price like that..." "Fifty percent! That would bleed dry all the spirit stones Yaoguang and the Zixiao Institute earn in a year, turning the entire Zixiao Institute into laborers for their Dengxian Tower!" Li Qingshan remained silent. When alchemy techniques were held by others, the price was also theirs to dictate. As for them... Unless they had third parties purchase on their behalf, it would be exceedingly difficult to secure the pills required to support Yaoguang's rapid cultivation through other channels. Yet having someone else buy for them posed the problem of trust, and purchase quotas presented another hurdle. Aside from Yaoguang, what top-tier Star Lord could afford an annual consumption in the tens of millions of spirit stones? Even those who could burn through millions of spirit stones a year could probably be counted on one hand. "Regarding the issue of pills for my cultivation, I actually have a solution," Yaoguang said, glancing at Li Qingshan. "However, using this method could have severe repercussions. Originally, I had no intention of bringing it up." At this, he gave a faint smile. "Yet now that the Immortal Alliance has openly aligned with the Wuji Astral Palace to target and blockade our Nine Cauldrons Sect, giving this method—which might carry considerable negative fallout—a try is entirely justified." Hearing this, Li Qingshan's eyes brightened slightly. "What solution?" Yaoguang did not answer immediately. With a wave of his hand, he displayed a dossier on a certain individual. "Presently, the pills I use most are the Heavy Star Pill and the Flame Ion Pill. Between the two, the Heavy Star Pill, a third-generation high-grade precious pill, is the most crucial for me. In the entire Immortal Alliance, only three alchemy grandmasters are capable of refining it. The one we need to focus on is this person: Grandmaster Sheikh." His tone was calm as he continued, "This alchemist originally hailed from the Star Gate. His family was quite well-off, and he was later sent to the Immortal Alliance to study. During his eight years of study, he displayed astonishing alchemical talent, becoming capable of refining low-grade precious pills at barely thirty years of age. Having attained such skill, he wished to return to his own sect and serve it. To keep this alchemy grandmaster, the Immortal Alliance tried numerous tactics with little success. In the end, they sent people disguised as cultivators from the Liusha Sect to slaughter his entire clan, leveling the very city his family resided in to the ground." His words allowed Li Qingshan and the others to vaguely guess his plan. "You have proof in hand?" "I do. As early as five or six years ago, when our pill supplies were constrained by others, I wondered if we could invite one of the Immortal Alliance's alchemists over. I kept track of their information, focusing in particular on Grandmaster Sheikh, who wasn't an intrinsic member of the Immortal Alliance. And for a Dharma Idol cultivator, there is virtually no information that cannot be unearthed if one sets their mind to it." Yaoguang smiled faintly. "I compiled this intelligence half a year ago, and I even identified the man who gave the order to annihilate Sheikh's clan: Lewis, the current Deputy Director of the Foreign Intelligence Department of the Immortal Alliance's Punishment Hall. I believe that as long as we can infiltrate the Immortal Alliance, deliver this evidence to Sheikh, and eliminate Director Lewis, it will suffice to bring this alchemy grandmaster into our fold." Having said that, he glanced at Li Qingshan and scanned the other hall masters. "Now, it depends on whether we want to act. After all... even if I handle it with utmost stealth, so long as the Immortal Alliance investigates diligently, they will trace it back. The Nine Cauldrons Sect—and I in particular—would be the greatest beneficiaries." "If you do that... you will likely clash with a Dharma Idol cultivator from the Immortal Alliance, and the secrets you harbor will be hard to conceal." "Then we won't conceal them." Yaoguang's calm tone carried a thread of confidence. "It would be fine if a Dharma Idol cultivator from the Immortal Alliance stays away. But if one comes, I will show him that at the Dharma Idol level, someone has already surpassed him." He paused. "Severely injuring a Dharma Idol cultivator should be more than enough to make the Immortal Alliance behave." Li Qingshan was rather astonished. "You would be that bold?" "Yes," Yaoguang replied. Sensing the terrifying energy within his body, burning like a blazing sun... Though he was not the true master of this energy and experienced a layer of disconnect when channeling and replenishing it... No one could deny the cataclysmic, world-destroying might it possessed once unleashed. This was an external core! An external core refined with the Crimson Golden Core at its heart! Over these past five years, his qi refining cultivation had remained at the Foundation Establishment realm, not even reaching the Unity Realm, precisely because the lion's share of his time and energy had gone into refining this external core. However... Although it had delayed his cultivation progress, the results were remarkably striking. Armed with this external core... and combined with the formidable astral force field provided by the Divine Heart, he finally possessed some genuine means of self-preservation. Hearing Yaoguang's reply, Li Qingshan pondered for a moment before asking, "Are you confident?" "It shouldn't be an issue," Yaoguang said with a smile. "I don't believe the Immortal Alliance would wage all-out war against our Nine Cauldrons Sect over a single alchemist, especially... once we've proven we have the strength to severely wound them." "Then go ahead and do it," Li Qingshan said resolutely. "Whatever support you need from us, just say the word."