Soaring

"Foremost in the world!" These four words instantly jolted the conference room—still noisy with laughter and excited chatter a moment ago—into absolute silence. "Foremost in the world." Many recited the words silently in their hearts. And... The profound meaning that lay behind them. Though they all knew that the Nine Cauldrons Sect had been rapidly catching up on all fronts over the years, reaching world-leading or even world-class standards in many areas, still... no matter how leading or elite they were, nothing carried the sheer impact of the words "foremost in the world." Once upon a time, barely eighty-odd years after its founding, the Nine Cauldrons Sect had been plagued by neglected affairs on every front, lagging far behind world averages in virtually every sector. An evaluation like "foremost in the world" was something they would never have dared to imagine. Yet now... a title that theoretically would never even appear in their wildest dreams had been abruptly, directly bestowed upon the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Bestowed upon a sect that had existed for scarcely more than a century. "Foremost in the world..." Huang Tianhao, head of the Elder Council, muttered under his breath. An unprecedented, tangled surge of emotion welled within his chest. Apprehension, trepidation, unease, pride, honor... Countless feelings churned endlessly through his heart. In the end... that trepidation, that apprehension, and that unease gradually dissolved away. All that remained was an inexpressible, unspeakable pride and honor. "Foremost in the world!" He repeated the phrase aloud, releasing a long, deep breath as he finished speaking. It was as though he were expelling all the injustice, humiliation, terror, and confusion the Nine Cauldrons Sect had endured over the century since its founding. At this very moment, he truly understood the real meaning of holding one's head high with pride—this was it, right here and now! "Good! Good! Truly wonderful!" He could not help clapping his hands, applauding vigorously. Led by his applause, the others jolted back to their senses as well. "Thirty-three world-class elite battle institutes?! If I remember correctly, the Immortal Alliance only has forty elite battle institutes in total! And among those forty, less than half reach a world-class standard! Even a powerhouse like the Wuji Astral Palace has only forty-six elite battle institutes, with barely thirty of them at the peak level! We... are we on the verge of surpassing both the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace?!" "A hundred years! A full century! Is it finally the Nine Cauldrons Sect's turn to step onto the grand stage of history in the Cangwu Great World?!" "Hahaha! Wonderful! To witness the Nine Cauldrons Sect's might at this moment, I can die with no regrets! Hahahaha!" These varied exclamations, loud and soft, reverberated through the hall once more. In an instant, thunderous applause erupted. Everyone clapped with all their might, cheering and applauding for their sect's glorious, near-miraculous achievements. This applause was not only for Li Qingshan, Yaoguang, and Li Hanqiu; it was for every attendee of the Nine Cauldrons Sect present, and for every single person who had fought and struggled for the sect's rise. Only after a long while did the applause finally subside. Yet the smiles on everyone's faces could not be concealed. "In terms of battle institutes, we are hardly inferior to the Immortal Alliance or the Wuji Astral Palace now. At the very least... there is no longer a significant gap between us. What remains is war apparatus like sky-patrol warships, capable of projecting forces across distances to wage sect-annihilating wars!" "The Immortal Alliance has eighteen sky-patrol warships, and the Wuji Astral Palace boasts as many as twenty-six. As for us, though we have built several sky-patrol warships over the years, our numbers are clearly insufficient... We still have catching up to do." "Hahaha, talk about warships and I'm wide awake! Just wait until the Sect Master continues his introduction—he's definitely going to give you a surprise." Amid the scattered chatter, Li Qingshan turned to the sky-patrol warship project. The Nine Cauldrons Sect's very first sky-patrol warship, that early-generation vessel purchased from the Myriad Beasts Sect at great expense? It had long since retired from frontline service, relegated to local territories for training purposes. Even the Luori and the Vajra were mentioned only in passing. The first vessel to receive a detailed introduction was the Longxiang, a sky-patrol warship developed entirely in-house. "The Longxiang is a Generation-3 sky-patrol warship that meets world-leading standards. Its combat capabilities are actually not that formidable—at best comparable to a standard sky-patrol warship from the Wuji Astral Palace. However, building this warship allowed us to accumulate a wealth of warship-construction expertise..." Li Qingshan's voice echoed through the conference hall. Yet this manner of introduction made question marks pop above the heads of many lower-ranking domain masters, branch sect masters, and elders. Do you even hear what you're saying? What do you mean by "not that formidable"? What do you mean by "at best comparable to a standard sky-patrol warship from the Wuji Astral Palace"? Are you trying to ascend straight to the heavens?! However, when Li Qingshan proceeded to introduce the four subsequent warships—the Jizhou, the Qingzhou, the Yangzhou, and the Xuzhou—the crowd realized with a start that the Sect Master was speaking entirely in earnest. His earlier assessment... had indeed been remarkably objective. Compared to these four vessels, which represented the pinnacle of Generation-3 sky-patrol warships worldwide and could even be classified as quasi-Generation-4, the Longxiang truly was somewhat unremarkable and ordinary. By the time the dossiers on the Shenzhou and the recently completed Zhongzhou were displayed, the domain masters, branch sect masters, and elders felt as though they had drifted into a dream. "I'm seriously doubting whether I'm dreaming right now! I remember that twenty years ago, we didn't even have the capability to independently build a sky-patrol warship. It's only been twenty years, and not only can we build them, we've leaped straight past Generation-1, Generation-2, and Generation-3 to acquire the capability to build Generation-4 warships?!" "Dream or not, I hope I wake up as late as possible! Good grief, what an audacious dream—building Generation-4 sky-patrol warships! Even the Wuji Astral Palace's Haike and Zhenzong are only claimed to be Generation-4 warships publicly; plenty of people remain skeptical, since their formations are basically the same as Generation-3 ships, merely constructed from superior materials." "So we now have two Generation-3 warships, four quasi-Generation-4 warships, and two Generation-4 warships?! Let me catch my breath... A Generation-4 warship is said to be able to take on three Generation-3 warships at once in a pitched battle! And if it employs hit-and-run tactics, leveraging its mobility and endurance, it can tie down ten Generation-3 warships! Then our fleet's current lineup..." The senior executives of the Nine Cauldrons Sect talked and calculated. Once they thoroughly pieced together the true combat power represented by these warships... every single one felt their heart tremble. Especially Lou Yuyu of the War Hall and Jiang Zhuoyue of the Guard Hall... Both widened their eyes in unison, disbelief and boundless joy flooding their chests. Surpassing the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace?! That goal was already halfway achieved! With this fleet—modest in number, yet composed entirely of elites—they... no longer feared the threat of the Immortal Alliance's sky-patrol fleet in the slightest. No! It was not merely a lack of fear! They were confident they could fight and win! After all, unlike the Wuji Astral Palace, the Immortal Alliance was a coalition formed by eight great clans alongside numerous smaller families. In the face of external conflict, they were nowhere near as united as outsiders imagined. As long as the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Zhongzhou and Shenzhou charged into the Immortal Alliance's fleet and sank a few warships with overwhelming force, the rest would scatter in panic to preserve their own family assets. This was precisely why the Immortal Alliance, despite possessing greater overall strength than the Myriad Beasts Sect, had never been able to subdue them. "Two Generation-3 warships, four quasi-Generation-4 warships, two Generation-4 warships... a full ten warships! The sect... kept all this from us and quietly grew this powerful?!" "Is this data... all real? Has our Nine Cauldrons Sect truly grown this formidable?" "Thirty-three world-class elite battle institutes, ten of the world's most advanced sky-patrol warships... including two Generation-4 warships of a class previously seen only in the Wuji Astral Palace... This strength... is terrifying! Is this truly the power our Nine Cauldrons Sect possesses?" It was simply too overwhelming. A level of might that felt utterly unreal to many domain masters, branch sect masters, and elders who had not known the sect's specific capabilities. It felt... unbelievable. Taking in the assembly's reactions, Li Hanqiu and Li Qingshan understood completely. After all, over these past twenty years... and especially during the last decade or so under Yaoguang's immense assistance, the Nine Cauldrons Sect's growth rate had truly been phenomenal. To describe it as "soaring" was by no means an exaggeration. Yet, seeing that even core figures like Lou Yuyu and Jiang Zhuoyue—who theoretically should have been best acquainted with the sect's changing strength—were deeply shaken, the two realized something. The disparity was simply too vast. So vast that many people had not yet wrapped their minds around the change. If even the core leadership reacted like this, what about the upper tiers, the middle echelons, and the common disciples? This... could only be blamed on the Nine Cauldrons Sect's secrecy being maintained too well. Moreover... a span of ten-odd years was simply too brief. Who could have imagined that the Nine Cauldrons Sect would transform so drastically in twenty years? If someone had told their twenty-years-younger selves that two decades later, the Nine Cauldrons Sect would possess thirty-three world-class elite battle institutes and ten of the world's finest sky-patrol warships, both of them would have spat saltwater in that person's face. Daydreaming, surely. Yet the truth... was precisely that. The Nine Cauldrons Sect had actually achieved it. "I believe it is necessary to hold a large-scale military parade," Li Qingshan suddenly proposed, transmitting his voice via divine sense to Li Hanqiu and Yaoguang. "At present, the other major sects likely understand our true strength better than our own mid-level cultivators do. Even if we wanted to stay hidden and bide our time, we might not be able to keep it under wraps—not to mention that now that the Wuji Astral Palace has withdrawn from the Black Feather Sect, they will certainly seek ways to deal with us." Li Hanqiu pondered for a moment and glanced at Yaoguang. Yaoguang replied, "Whatever you two decide is fine." Seeing this, Li Hanqiu thought it over and said, "Then let us hold a large-scale military parade... Consider it making up for the centennial military parade of our Nine Cauldrons Sect." The core leaders quickly reached a consensus. However, discussing further details was obviously unsuitable for the moment. After all, Li Qingshan was still standing on the stage.