Longxiang Imperial Academy was one of the only four imperial academies located within the Nine Heavens Domain, a region with a population of four hundred million. Among the 151 imperial academies under the Nine Cauldrons Sect, it consistently ranked within the top fifty.

Every year, over five million candidates in the Nine Heavens Domain took the entrance exams to join one of those four imperial academies, yet fewer than 5% successfully secured a spot. The remaining students either resigned themselves to living as ordinary citizens or continued their studies at higher academies, waiting for an opportunity to challenge the Nine Cauldrons Sect's assessment before they reached the age of twenty-two.

Every individual capable of entering Longxiang Imperial Academy was considered a prodigy. After graduation, one out of ten joined the Nine Cauldrons Sect, truly entering the core, privileged class of the land's 8.8 billion people. Another four out of ten would secure stable jobs within the Energy Department. Even the remaining half who entered various sectors of society became the elite, often starting with annual salaries of at least 100,000.

Consequently, as Yaoguang walked through the grounds of Longxiang Imperial Academy, every young face he encountered radiated confidence and was filled with boundless hope for the future.

After asking for directions, Yaoguang arrived at a small five-story building covered in red tiles. This was Red Building No. 3. An electronic gate requiring facial recognition stood at the entrance. Yaoguang contacted Professor Lin Sen, with whom he had made an appointment, and the gate soon slid open to allow them inside.

This scene made Zong Yan, who had followed along, realize that Yaoguang likely possessed a deep understanding of this project already. It was not as simple as the "brief look" Yaoguang had previously claimed.

When they reached the upper floor, a man in his late forties wearing black-rimmed glasses stood waiting by an open office door. He froze momentarily upon seeing Yaoguang’s youthful face, but his surprise quickly faded. In the era of immortal cultivation, anything was possible. If those in their sixties were willing to consume pills or practice youth-retaining arts, they could easily look like men in their twenties or thirties. Therefore, professionals like him did not make the mistake of judging a person by their appearance.

"Mr. Yaoguang, we have communicated several times through the Void Psychic World, and I finally get to meet you in person. We must have a good discussion regarding this topic. Please, come in," Lin Sen said, warmly gesturing for them to enter.

The office was small, measuring only about thirty square meters, and was cluttered with various data materials. There were paper books, but the majority consisted of storage jade talismans capable of holding vast amounts of information. Additionally, several imaging devices sat atop electronic desks engraved with array patterns. One display featured the holographic image of a flying sword.

"Is this..." Zong Yan glanced at it and quickly recognized the model. "The Immortal Shadow 50?"

It was a product of the Immortal Shadow Institute, which operated under the Flying Sword Department of the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s Artifact Refinement Hall. Positioned as a high-grade eighth-tier refined artifact, it was notorious for its high spiritual energy consumption. It was rumored that its overall cost-performance ratio could not even match the seventh-tier flying swords from the Immortal Alliance or the Infinite Star Palace; in terms of energy efficiency, it lagged even behind the seventh-tier models from the Great Sun Sword Sect.

"It should be the Immortal Shadow 60, though the research and development phase is not yet complete," Lin Sen explained, glancing at Zong Yan.

"Professor Lin, it seems like you feel that the data I provided was somewhat useful?" Yaoguang asked.

"It was very useful," Lin Sen said solemnly. "The Immortal Shadow series is one of the civilian flying swords our Nine Cauldrons Sect is vigorously supporting for independent development. The goal is to counter the market encroachment by the Immortal Alliance, the Infinite Star Palace, and other powers. After all, everyone knows how low the production cost of a flying sword is these days."

At this point, he sounded somewhat frustrated. "They dare to market a flying sword with zero combat capability as a spirit artifact just because a single metric meets spirit artifact standards. They price them at over a thousand spirit coins... Do they really think our Nine Cauldrons Sect’s spirit stones grow on trees?"

Yaoguang, who had been in the area for less than a month, did not feel particularly strongly about these grievances.

Sensing that such a rant was perhaps inappropriate for his guests, Lin Sen shifted his attitude and bolstered his spirit. "Although the main energy plant was moved to Nine Heavens City, the relevant research and development equipment has not been transferred yet. Our Longxiang Imperial Academy still possesses a profound foundation in energy research. With the conduction system you recently sent over, Mr. Yaoguang, we are confident we can significantly reduce spiritual energy costs. We can drop the Immortal Shadow 60's consumption per ten thousand kilometers from 135 units to 118."

"Still 118? That is still eighteen basis points behind the advanced standards of Cangwu, let alone being far ahead," Yaoguang noted with some surprise.

Even refined-artifact-level flying swords used for transportation usually cost over a million. Zong Yan could afford one, but it was a strain. Furthermore, what did a consumption of 118 units per ten thousand kilometers imply? A single spirit stone only provided 100 units of spiritual power. In other words, flying ten thousand kilometers required 1.18 spirit stones. The operating cost was more expensive than the flying sword itself. High-tier cultivators were the only ones who could truly afford to use it.

"It is mainly because the timeframe was too short. We have not had enough time to conduct comprehensive testing in many areas," Lin Sen said.

"Do you mind if I look into the cause?" Yaoguang asked.

Lin Sen pondered for a moment before replying, "You may, but I must ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement."

"Alright," Yaoguang agreed.

Zong Yan immediately and tactfully stepped out of the office. Once Yaoguang signed the agreement, Lin Sen placed a jade talisman he carried onto the electronic desk. As the array patterns flickered with light, the information within the jade talisman was projected outward, merging with the previously displayed hologram of the flying sword.

Lin Sen stepped forward and operated the holographic interface. Guided by his psychic consciousness, the image of the flying sword expanded rapidly, revealing the internal structure of the array patterns. These patterns integrated with the materials to form intricate, beautiful lines. Tens of thousands of lines wound through layers before finally converging at the hilt, where a placement point for a spirit stone was located.

Yaoguang did not look at the hologram; instead, he glanced at the jade talisman Lin Sen had produced. It appeared the professor was well-prepared, which suited Yaoguang's intentions perfectly.

He stepped forward as the information regarding the Refiner profession, which he had already pushed to the ninth tier, flashed by. There was no denying that the level of craftsmanship within the Immortal Shadow was very high. It wasn't necessarily that it reached a specific tier, but rather the degree of its ratios.

It was just like Yaoguang's Martial Dao branch; he could theoretically push for the next realm once progress reached 60%, and the same applied to the Refiner branch. In this Immortal Shadow sword, the eighth tier's components reached about 55% proficiency, but the seventh tier's components exceeded 60%, and some sixth tier's components even reached the 85% mark.

What did this mean? It meant that if this sword were sold as a sixth-tier flying sword, its performance would reach the seventh tier, making it highly competitive. Even if sold as a seventh-tier sword, it would be considered high quality. Yet, strangely, the materials used and the technology involved were all aimed toward the eighth tier.

"It wouldn't matter for personal use, or if there were a market monopoly. But with so many competitors now, prices in the high-grade flying sword market have been completely driven down. Profit margins are incredibly low. If you sell a flying sword made with eighth-tier materials at sixth-tier prices, you'll definitely lose everything down to your shirt." Yaoguang inspected the flying sword’s energy system, his thoughts churning.

During his years in the Artifact-Nurturing World, all of his professional skills had improved. He had raised both his Merchant and Daemon Hunter branches to the fourth tier.

Among these, the Merchant branch had provided him with a passive secret technique: Integrity. Long-term honest dealings in the field of trade made it easier for him to gain the trust of others during business discussions.

As for the Daemon Hunter branch, its secret technique was Tracking. By using blood as a medium, he could place a marker on a fiend, allowing him to sense the target’s location even from a vast distance. However, it could only mark fiends, specifically creatures from the Lunar Fiend Empire. Perhaps he could mark other beings in the future, but for now, it felt somewhat useless, as it provided no boost to combat power.

Since they provided no combat power, he had stopped developing those two professions once they reached the fourth tier, focusing instead on advancing his Refiner and Psyche Dao branches.

Both branches had progressed to the ninth tier. Specifically, his Refiner progress stood at 71%, while the Psyche Dao, which he had cultivated as his primary focus, had reached 96%. He was only five percent away from stepping into the Primordial Psyche Realm.

A progress of 71% already placed him among the most outstanding high-tier refiners. After all, many high-tier refiners began crafting spirit artifacts once they reached 60% progress, no longer wasting their efforts on lower-level refined artifacts.

Furthermore, his progress within the eighth tier had reached 100%. The technical gap between his 100% and the 55% in the Immortal Shadow sword was strikingly obvious.

Yaoguang studied the display for a moment before asking, "May I use your workstation?"

"Please, be my guest," Lin Sen replied.

Yaoguang immediately duplicated the energy system of the Immortal Shadow 60 and began a process of constant guidance, manipulation, and refinement. Although he had primarily focused on body cultivation over the past two years, he had also pushed his psyche refinement to the sixth realm.

Psychic thoughts allowed him to browse through the data with immense efficiency. He had not yet pushed for the seventh realm, not because he couldn't break through, but because he worried about the secondary profession overshadowing the primary.

This involved the distinction between nurturing the psyche with qi and transforming qi into psyche. When psychic thoughts became too powerful, they would oppress the physical body, causing one’s essence and qi to shift from tempering the body to primarily transforming qi into psyche.

Relying on his superior realm, Yaoguang could suppress this condition, but it would ultimately drain a portion of his energy. Therefore, ensuring the proper balance between body cultivation and psyche refinement was crucial. After all, the early stages of psyche refinement were only suitable for support; their direct combat effectiveness was too poor.

Furthermore, the Psyche Dao emphasized cultivation realms even more than the Martial Dao did. It was like the relationship between cultivation realms and supernatural power. As long as the realm was high enough, the manifested supernatural phenomena would not be lacking, save for a slight deficiency in endurance.

***

The sky was already dark, but Lin Sen showed no intention of rushing him. For cultivators, pulling an all-nighter was normal. Could it even be called immortal cultivation if one didn't stay up late?

Fortunately, Yaoguang did not keep him waiting long. As 9 p.m. approached, he began rapidly modifying the virtual model. With the hand speed of the Martial Dao and the reflexes of the Psyche Dao, he completed an optimization of the entire virtual model in just over an hour.

"I have optimized the energy system, but a flying sword consists of more than just energy. There are also the power, balance, and stabilization systems. To ensure that changes to the energy system do not adversely affect the others, this is as far as I can take it. If I were to go further, I would need to see the complete data for the Immortal Shadow 60," Yaoguang said.

Then he tapped the virtual model and smiled. "Go ahead and have the psyche cultivators who specialize in calculation run a simulation using an astra. If all goes well, the spiritual energy consumption should drop below 100. Let me know the specific figures once you have the results."

"Below 100!?" Even though Lin Sen had expected a surprise from Yaoguang, he had not expected such a big one. "Are you serious!? A spiritual consumption of 100 for an eighth-tier flying sword? If we can truly achieve that, our Nine Cauldrons Sect will become one of the most advanced manufacturers within Cangwu in the field of eighth-tier civilian flying sword energy efficiency!"

"You'll know once you test it." Yaoguang glanced at the pitch-black sky outside. "I’ve taken up a whole day of your time. I'll take my leave now."

Lin Sen quickly reeled in his wandering psychic mind. "It was my oversight not to treat you to a proper meal after you came all this way, Mr. Yaoguang. I will have someone arrange it immediately..."

"There's no need. I expect you're thinking about verifying this model as soon as possible, so don't worry about me. Just notify me of the results as soon as possible," Yaoguang said graciously.

Lin Sen was indeed feeling impatient to start, as this problem had plagued them for a long time. He replied with some apology, "Then... I shall host a banquet for you once this is settled. Furthermore, the reward for your contribution will certainly not disappoint you."

"Then I shall look forward to your good news, Professor Lin." Yaoguang nodded and turned to leave.