War

Following the conclusion of the meeting presided over by Li Qingshan, Li Hanqiu, Yaoguang, and the others, the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect quickly mobilized. In the dozen or so years since the Battle of the East Sea came to an end, everyone knew that the sect had ushered in a precious window for peaceful development. Every member could feel the internal changes of the sect in their daily lives. For instance, hover cars, once rather expensive, had entered countless households, to the point where nearly anyone could afford to purchase one. Those artifact-grade flying swords, previously worth over a million or even several million, were no longer exclusive to high-tier cultivators or affluent middle-tier ones. Ordinary middle-tier cultivators could grit their teeth and afford them just as well. Furthermore, the prices of the low-grade pills needed for cultivation plummeted rapidly. The threshold for utilizing formations that once required vast sums of money for a single session—such as the Heart-Clearing Formation, Spirit-Stimulating Formation, and Mind-Concentrating Formation—had also been drastically lowered. Slightly wealthier members of the middle class could even engrave these formations directly in their own courtyards, enjoying their conveniences around the clock, thereby ensuring that they and their children could swiftly complete the early and middle stages of cultivation. As for the wealthy class, there was no need to mention them; small villas equipped with a full suite of foundational cultivation formations and defensive formations had already become standard. These changes in daily life made every member of the Nine Cauldrons Sect realize that the sect was growing better and better. Yet to what exact extent it had improved, and what standing it held on a global level, was something they could not articulate. There were indeed some figures regarding the Nine Cauldrons Sect in the Virtual Spirit Realm, but the credibility of those statistics remained questionable. Under these circumstances, when the Nine Cauldrons Sect officially released its ten-year progress report—highlighting that over 1.2 billion people across the entire sect had developed divine sense and that its total spirit stone production had reached 464.1 million—the entire sect was thrown into an uproar. When busybodies compiled the total spirit stone production of all nations in the world into a spreadsheet, the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect erupted in complete excitement. The figure of 464.1 million was second only to the Wuji Astral Palace's 821.1 million and the Immortal Alliance's 625.8 million! Below them, the total outputs of the Myriad Beasts Sect, Taiyin Sect, Fatian Pavilion, and Golden Divine Temple were all essentially between two hundred and four hundred million. Of course, there were also several large sects whose spirit stone yields were exceptionally high, reaching levels comparable to these immortal sects. Yet regardless of which one it was, they all lagged a full step behind the Nine Cauldrons Sect. The Nine Cauldrons Sect had genuinely surpassed all other sects to become the world's third-largest economy! For a time, an unprecedented sense of pride and shared glory filled everyone's hearts. Shortly after these figures were made public, the Nine Cauldrons Sect announced yet another earth-shattering piece of news. In three months, the Nine Cauldrons Sect would host a grand military parade. The specific personnel count and scale of this parade would be announced in one month. When that time came, the sky-patrol warships independently manufactured by the Nine Cauldrons Sect would all appear on the parade grounds, one after another. As for their specific performance and numbers... Everyone was invited to wait in eager anticipation. The emergence of this news once again sparked fierce discussion across the Virtual Spirit Realm. Everyone was guessing just how many sky-patrol warships the Nine Cauldrons Sect would deploy this time. Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, factions that also belonged to the Tianxing Continent—such as the Great Sun Sword Sect, the Shouyang Sect, the Brahma Divine Kingdom, the Astral Sea Sect, the Ancient Immortal Sect, the Xuanming Sect, and the Great Yue Dynasty—convened emergency meetings in succession following this disclosure. Especially the Great Sun Sword Sect... Not long ago, in the dossiers they had submitted to the Wuji Astral Palace, they had made estimates regarding the Nine Cauldrons Sect's spirit stone production. Back then, even their highest estimate was only four hundred million. Many felt that three hundred million was a more reasonable figure. Yet no one had expected that the final number published by the Nine Cauldrons Sect would be more than fifty percent higher than their reasonable estimate. ... Inside the Great Sun Sword Sect, Vice Hall Master of the War Hall and Minister of East Sea Archipelago Affairs Chisongzi, Hall Master Fujino of the Penal Hall, the retired Baishi, and several other core figures—such as the masters of the Garrison Hall and External Publicity Hall—were engaged in an intense exchange under the convocation of Sect Master Long Zechuan. "Spirit stones represent a sect's foundation, a sect's productivity. Only with sufficient spirit stones can one maintain the operation of more formations, improve the sect's cultivation environment, and purchase large quantities of precious cultivation resources. The Nine Cauldrons Sect's spirit stone production has already breached 464.1 million; their internal development certainly cannot be lacking! In particular, their military strength... might be even more staggering than we guessed!" "More than that, a total spirit stone production value of 464.1 million not only represents the Nine Cauldrons Sect's future potential, but also signifies that the spirit-gathering formation technology in their hands has achieved a breakthrough! These breakthroughs inevitably mean they have reached the pinnacle of the world in the art of spirit-gathering formations!" "If their spirit-gathering formations have made a breakthrough, that is immense! Doesn't that prove there is a formidable grandmaster of formations within their sect? After all, laying down spirit-gathering formations is notoriously complex! To set up a spirit-gathering formation of this grade, what level would such a formation grandmaster be? Grade seven? Grade eight? Or... Grade nine?!" "Grade nine is impossible. As mighty as the Wuji Astral Palace is, their strongest formation master is merely Grade eight. However strong the Nine Cauldrons Sect is, how could they possibly be stronger than the Wuji Astral Palace?" "An eighth-grade formation grandmaster also stands at the world's apex. Even the Myriad Beasts Sect, Taiyin Sect, and Wuji Astral Palace only have three to five among them, while the Immortal Alliance doesn't have anyone of that tier. Taking the Wuji Astral Palace as an example, the Twelve Divine Pillars Array they laid down is enough to block Star God- and divine beast-level might! Not to mention strikes from sky-patrol warships." "The Wuji Astral Palace's ability to manufacture fourth-generation sky-patrol warships relies on stacking top-tier formations... If the Nine Cauldrons Sect also possesses an eighth-grade formation master, then... could the rumors that they have produced fourth-generation warships... actually be true?" Waves of discussion continued to pour from the mouths of these hall master-level figures. The truth became clearer the more it was debated. Under the collective speculation of everyone pooling their thoughts, the true strength harbored by the Nine Cauldrons Sect was gradually unveiled before them. Only at this moment did everyone suddenly realize that the Nine Cauldrons Sect... had actually grown so formidable. It far exceeded the power that any of them had anticipated. For a time, the chatter noticeably died down. When the master of the Garrison Hall deduced from various factors that the Nine Cauldrons Sect had most likely truly built a fourth-generation sky-patrol warship, everyone fell... speechless. "Why has everyone gone silent?" Looking at the suddenly frozen conference room, Long Zechuan swept a cold glance over everyone present. "Have you realized that the Nine Cauldrons Sect already possesses nine sky-patrol warships in total—including the one purchased from the Myriad Beasts Sect, our Chunyu and Vajra, the Longxiang built by copying the Vajra, the four new warships Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yangzhou, and Xuzhou, and the fourth-generation warship Shenzhou nearing completion?" He said heavily, "Have you realized that our mighty Great Sun Sword Sect has unknowingly been surpassed by the Nine Cauldrons Sect? Not just in top-tier combat power and battle institutes, but even in the number of sky-patrol warships that we take pride in? After all, over these dozen or so years, we have only launched two sky-patrol warships! Bringing our fleet's complement to six." After a long while, the master of the Garrison Hall below spoke up: "The Wuji Astral Palace will not let them be. They have already extricated themselves from the Heiyan Continent. Their next objective is bound to be unifying the Cangwu Great World. They may even use every means short of Golden Cores to forcibly achieve the unification of the Cangwu Great World." Long Zechuan glanced at him, initially wanting to say coldly, "Can the mighty Great Sun Sword Sect now only rely entirely on the Wuji Astral Palace?" Yet he heard another hall master chime in: "Time is running short. It is said that the deadline agreed upon by the great figures who headed to the Beihai Star back then was a century, but... a century is merely a nominal figure. It could be eight or ten years early, or eight or ten years late. In other words, if it is fast, the situation in the Cangwu Great World will become clear in another ten years." "Indeed. In such a short time, I fear we are powerless to become the hegemon of Tianxing again and secure sufficient say in the reconstituted Cangwu League as the Tianxing hegemon... Rather than that, it would be better to pick a side in time and choose a powerful patron..." "Leaning completely toward the Wuji Astral Palace is indeed a solid choice. If we decide early, we might even occupy an important seat in the Cangwu League led by the Wuji Astral Palace." The hall masters spoke out one after another. These words forcibly choked back the remarks Long Zechuan had nearly blurted out. At this moment, an abrupt sense of disgust welled up within him; he felt that all the hall masters in the sect were fools. Immediately afterward, he regained his composure and realized the origin of this disgust. A sense of powerlessness. Because he knew in his heart that he could do nothing, and achieved nothing, such an emotion arose. The Nine Cauldrons Sect... had truly, without anyone noticing, grown powerful enough to surpass the Great Sun Sword Sect. After a long silence, he finally said with a hint of desolation, "Then inquire with the Wuji Astral Palace to see if they have any countermeasures on their end." "Understood." The hall masters responded enthusiastically. ... In truth, there was no need for them to ask. The moment the Wuji Astral Palace obtained the published data, they had already convened a meeting. Before long, the Golden Cores reached a consensus: they needed to suppress the momentum of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's rise. However, the lesson of the Black Feather Sect made them realize that with their rival, the Myriad Beasts Sect, watching covetously, moving against the Nine Cauldrons Sect again would inevitably repeat the Black Feather Sect's mistake. Therefore, before suppressing the Nine Cauldrons Sect, they had to first pin down the Myriad Beasts Sect so that it would have no leeway to cause trouble for them. Following a round of deliberation, the Golden Cores quickly issued an order to the current palace master of the Wuji Astral Palace, Chuan Yunhai. Soon afterward, Chuan Yunhai embarked on a three-day visit to the Immortal Alliance. No one knew what this palace master of the Wuji Astral Palace discussed with the eight great clans of the Immortal Alliance, nor what cooperation they agreed upon. All that was known was that less than half a month after this visit, the Shaman Sect—which bordered the Immortal Alliance and the Myriad Beasts Sect, or rather, was located less than thirty thousand li from the headquarters of the Myriad Beasts Sect—abruptly announced that it would hold a meeting to discuss joining the Immortal Alliance and becoming the ninth 'clan' within the alliance. As a sect with a narrow, elongated territory, the closest point of the Shaman Sect was less than thirty thousand li from the headquarters of the Myriad Beasts Sect. Once the Shaman Sect truly joined the Immortal Alliance... the Immortal Alliance, which had already been at loggerheads with the Myriad Beasts Sect in recent years, would essentially be thrust directly beneath the Myriad Beasts Sect's very eyes. When that time came, they would only need to fortify the Shaman Sect's border, lay down extensive formations, and prepare ample supplies, which would be equivalent to waging war against the Myriad Beasts Sect right in its heartland. If it truly came to that stage, the Myriad Beasts Sect's situation would inevitably become passive like never before. To this end, the Myriad Beasts Sect voiced vehement opposition. Yet the Shaman Sect was set on joining the Immortal Alliance, its attitude unyielding. Thus, in a brief half-month, the winds and clouds over this continent changed dramatically. The Myriad Beasts Sect, a behemoth that had rested and recuperated for merely a dozen years, mobilized once more. A war targeting the Shaman Sect—or rather, deliberately provoked by the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace—erupted instantly.