Growth

High in the skies above the Jiuxiao Domain. A figure towering a hundred meters tall stood erect within the Blazing Sun Heavenly Lightning layer, freely letting the surrounding thunderbolts relentlessly strike his body. Though he stood only a hundred meters tall, his immense gravitational pull generated a vast vortex of thunderclouds across the heavens, forming a terrifying cyclone thousands of li across. Such horrifying momentum and disturbance were enough to make any Star Lord or Foundation Establishment cultivator steer well clear. Yet to this figure, neither the howling gales nor the lightning were of any consequence. Instead, one hundred and eight starlights shone brilliantly across his body, glittering with the radiant splendor of cosmic constellations. The only slight pity was that the starlight... Was not bright enough. It seemed the energy had yet to be fully replenished. As a result, although his acupoints were vast in number, the shimmering stars had yet to merge into a single entity and manifest the true disposition of a complete cosmic sphere. After a long time, a Life Force Field enveloped the towering figure. His hundred-meter frame gradually contracted, returning to the form of an ordinary human. Under the constraint of the Life Force Field, the terrifying gravitational force emanating from him ceased to leak in the slightest. Maintaining his normal form, he descended toward the ground. The moment he exited the Blazing Sun Heavenly Lightning layer, Tang Fenghua and the others quickly appeared and presented him with fresh robes. "Hall Master Yaoguang, how were the results?" Tang Fenghua asked. "Quite ordinary," Yaoguang said, gazing toward the edge of the horizon. "It seems if I want to replenish the 'mass' of my Star God physique as quickly as possible, I can only start with star cores. I need to refine the star cores of one hundred and eight stars to complete my cultivation and elevate my physical strength to the third stage of the Star God realm." "A third-stage physique... should be enough to support the stable operation of a Crimson Golden Core, right?" Tang Fenghua said. "Yes." Yaoguang nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Once we reach that step, basically no one will have the power to stop whatever we wish to do." "In fact, even right now, if Hall Master Yaoguang were to clash with those Radiant Sun Golden Cores, wouldn't you still hold your own?" Tang Fenghua asked, smiling. Yaoguang glanced at him. "It looks like all of you are extraordinarily curious." "Hall Master Yaoguang saw right through me. After all, you are now the foremost among the new-system cultivators. We all desperately want to know just how far you can go right now," Tang Fenghua admitted with candid ease. "Enough. The sect is about to convene an executive council meeting anyway. When the time comes, I'll address it there to save having to explain it to everyone individually," Yaoguang said. Tang Fenghua was slightly surprised. "An executive council meeting? Has something happened?" "Yes. I just received word through Linden's Virtual Spirit Realm that they have decided to withdraw from the Black Feather Sect and pull their forces out of the Heiyan Continent." "Withdraw from the Black Feather Sect?" Tang Fenghua was somewhat startled. "Haven't they failed to secure a decisive victory at the Black Feather Sect all along? Pulling back now—isn't that tantamount to admitting their strategic defeat on the Heiyan Continent?" "They had no choice. The threat we pose to them has grown greater and greater. They realized that dragging things out at the Black Feather Sect would only leave them unable to curb our rise." Yaoguang paused and smiled. "In truth, they can no longer curb it anyway." Tang Fenghua nodded with a solemn expression. Wuji Astral Palace's retreat this time... Could be considered forced by the Nine Cauldrons Sect into abandoning their strategic deployment on the Heiyan Continent. Such regard... Truth be told, it left the Nine Cauldrons Sect feeling almost overwhelmed by the recognition. "All right. Next, let's hear what Sect Master Li and the others have to say. Over these past years, they should have developed comprehensive countermeasures for this scenario," Yaoguang said. "Understood," Tang Fenghua nodded. At this moment, Yaoguang no longer needed his protection. Ever since he severely wounded Dharma Idol Feng Ao on the mental plane within the Immortal Alliance and repelled Star God Barton in physical combat, everyone in the Nine Cauldrons Sect, from top to bottom, had fully recognized his strength. Tang Fenghua's true role had instead become that of his secretary and assistant, responsible for helping him interface with the sect's various affairs. Just then, Yaoguang seemed to sense something. Diverting a wisp of divine mind through the Virtual Spirit Realm, he soon perceived the location of Fang Jinxue, Head of the Third Sky-Patrol Research Institute. "We succeeded! Hall Master, we succeeded!" Fang Jinxue said with immense excitement. "Following your designs, we perfectly resolved the integration of thirty-six defensive seventh-rank formations, thirty-six offensive seventh-rank formations, thirty-six technique-amplifying offensive formations... perfectly embedding and harmonizing all one thousand and eighty seventh-rank formations! Relying on the might of these formations, this new sky-patrol warship will definitively reach the standard of a fifth-generation warship! This is the peak standard in the world! The foremost warship in Cangwu! This single vessel alone is worth ten third-generation warships!" "Good," Yaoguang said, nodding with a smile. His efforts three years ago to design this sky-patrol warship and patiently instruct them over the subsequent three years had not been in vain. Now... This warship would finally no longer require him to tighten every single screw by hand. With the assistance of these personnel... Coupled with the guidance of his 'Divine Lord' trait, this warship—reputed to be the strongest in the world—could be successfully manufactured and launched in two to three years at most. Of course, that was provided... Wuji Astral Palace would still give them those two to three years. "Well, that isn't impossible to secure," Yaoguang murmured. "After all, Wuji Astral Palace still has the Myriad Beasts Sect to deal with. Although our profile appears frightening on paper, without being tested in real combat, the attention they give us might not exceed what they devote to the Myriad Beasts Sect. Even if they truly intend to move against us, they will first find a way to bog the Myriad Beasts Sect down in a quagmire of war before turning their sights toward us..." This was his projection of the current situation, formed by continuously gathering intelligence in the Virtual Spirit Realm and combining it with the broader board. Even if not completely certain, it was not far off. With that in mind, he immediately instructed, "Have everyone rest for three days. Three days from now, everyone report to their posts. I will guide you all to bring this world's strongest sky-patrol warship into reality as quickly as possible!" "No need!" Fang Jinxue said in high spirits. "Everyone's morale is through the roof right now! Everyone is waiting to begin construction on this sky-patrol warship under your direct guidance, Hall Master! Fortune turns! Number one in the world! It's finally returning to the Nine Cauldrons Sect!" "Take a proper rest. Building a warship is not something achieved overnight; there is no need to rush right this second. Three days from now, we will draw up a two-year campaign plan," Yaoguang insisted again. These words brought Fang Jinxue back to reason somewhat. Indeed. When it came to constructing a sky-patrol warship, even with Hall Master Yaoguang orchestrating everything so that practically no error would occur at any step, and everyone maximizing their capabilities to the fullest, building such a colossal behemoth would still take two to three years. Three days was truly nothing to fret over. Thinking this through, Fang Jinxue nodded. "Understood. I will tell everyone to rest immediately." "Go on." As Yaoguang spoke, he had already descended from the high heavens, returning to his residence in the Zixiao Institute. Inside the residence, with his arrival, Lei Yun and the others responsible for his daily routines quickly busied themselves. Yaoguang summarized his recent cultivation while listening to Su Yaoyu, who had arrived upon hearing the news, report on the Zixiao Institute's data. Among these reports, one piece of information caught his attention. "Oh? Dong Liushui and the others have produced the prototype flying swords for the Zixiao-20?" "Yes. They are currently conducting data verification and plan to report to you once the test figures pass standard." "The Zixiao-20..." Yaoguang murmured. The reason they had skipped directly from the Zixiao-16 to the Zixiao-20 was that this flying sword belonged to an entirely new category. Previous flying swords were tailored for extreme sword cultivators. But the Zixiao-20 was targeted at Unity Realm cultivators who practiced the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique! At the Foundation Establishment stage, the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique did not differ drastically from common Foundation Establishment methods available on the market. At most, it was more refined and comprehensive. Yet once reaching the Unity Realm, where essence, qi, and spirit unified into one, a cultivator's strength would increase geometrically. Even fifth-rank Great Cultivators who had established an Immortal Foundation and ignited true fire fell short of the Unity Realm in overall capabilities. The only aspects in which they could match Unity Realm cultivators were slaughter and burst power. However, while an Immortal Foundation cultivator's burst and slaughtering power would peter out after ten or so rounds, leaving them utterly spent, a Unity Realm cultivator possessed vastly superior endurance. Moreover, they held little reliance on Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators. That was because they were essentially a synthesis of Star Lord, Foundation Establishment, and Primordial Spirit. Under these circumstances, Yaoguang had specially designed the Zixiao-20 flying sword for them to bring these advantages into full play. "Just as well. The Nine Cauldrons Sect currently has thirty-five Unity Realm cultivators, meaning we are just one short of the thirty-six required to form a sword formation. Once they can form a sword formation, they can be integrated into a battle institute... When that happens, I'd like to see just what level of combat prowess these Unity Realm cultivators equipped with Zixiao-20 flying swords can display." In any sect, cultivators who had established an Immortal Foundation were precious assets with hopes of achieving the Golden Core; unless it was a critical battle of survival, they would never be sent to the frontlines. Under normal circumstances, the absolute core of the battlefield was usually comprised of fourth-rank Great Cultivators who had established a Dao Foundation and ignited true fire. A battle institute composed entirely of fourth-rank Great Cultivators was known as an ace battle institute. When facing an elite battle institute, an ace battle institute could typically fight ten to one. If even an ordinary ace battle institute was formidable, then what degree of enhancement would thirty-six Unity Realm cultivators—each stronger than a fifth-rank Great Cultivator—bring once integrated into a battle institute...? Yaoguang felt a surge of anticipation. He cast a glance toward the Zixiao Institute, deciding against heading over early to congratulate Dong Liushui and his team. Since they wanted to surprise him, he would let them. Yaoguang himself walked toward the artifact refinement chamber in the rear courtyard. This was his private refinement chamber. Yet under his continuous renovations, the artifact refinement tools inside had long reached the world's pinnacle. Activating the formations one after another, he soon arrived at the center of the refinement chamber. Here, four formations were operating at full capacity. At every moment, vast amounts of spiritual energy from spirit stones were consumed to sustain the formations' operation. Furthermore, the spirit treasure known as the Soul of the Stars served as the formation core to suppress and stabilize the setup. At the center of all the formations, a halo approximately ten meters in diameter, radiating an incandescent white light, was being forged. This was... A forging method for a spirit treasure that Yaoguang had unlocked when pushing [Artifact Refinement] to the Artifact Saint level at sixty-one percent progress. The Convergence-Dispersion Ring! A spirit treasure... Capable of stabilizing Golden Core states!