"World master." After hearing what Xiang Tianheng had said, Yaoguang showed a trace of surprise on his face.

The Nine Cauldrons Sect had always been extremely sensitive when it came to territory. This concerned the sect’s long-term strategic direction. After all, remnants of the Artifact Sect were bound to still exist in this world. If any of them were to suddenly step forward and proclaim themselves the legitimate inheritors of the Artifact Sect, then seize lands that had once belonged to it, unrest would be inevitable.

Because of this, the Nine Cauldrons Sect never yielded an inch when it came to claims over former Artifact Sect territory, acting with determination every time there was such a dispute. The moment anyone dared to carve out territory and rule as a local king, they would be wiped out with overwhelming might.

Even now, despite the fact that the sect couldn't truly absorb the East Sea's islands and the Shiwan Mountains, and was instead getting dragged down by these regions year after year because of the massive expenditures of manpower and resources needed to defend them, it had still never made the slightest concession regarding ownership of those lands.

This was the very foundation upon which the Nine Cauldrons Sect had been established. Under such circumstances, the sect was actually willing to gift him a vassal world that had once belonged to the Artifact Sect, turning it into his private domain and appointing him as the master of that world.

Such treatment was exceedingly rare. But compared to territorial sovereignty, the intrinsic value of a vassal world was not particularly great.

"Congratulations, World Master of the Yaoguang World," Xiang Tianheng said with a smile.

After some thought, Yaoguang ultimately decided to accept the gift. Perhaps the value of a world itself was limited, but this particular world held special meaning for him. Moreover, the Su family resided there, and it had already put down roots and multiplied. A world of their own could serve as both a territory and a path of retreat.

Yaoguang accepted the documents and nodded. "Thank you."

"This is what you deserve." The smile on Xiang Tianheng’s face deepened. "And aside from this small gift, we have also brought Chief Yaoguang an order."

He handed over another set of documents.

Yaoguang glanced through them. "One thousand Purple Firmament Type 12 improved flying swords, with a procurement price of 1800 spirit stones each?"

At that price, the Purple Firmament Institute’s profit margin would be only around twelve percent.

"We know the price is a bit low, but... the Procurement Department’s budget for this year has already been exhausted," Xiang Tianheng said, pointing to another set of figures. "As compensation to Chief Yaoguang, we are willing to sell the raw materials needed to refine these flying swords to the Purple Firmament Institute at cost."

Yaoguang looked it over. Purified ores, engraved array patterns, preliminarily refined components... The prices were indeed much lower. With a quick calculation, the profit margin on the improved Purple Firmament Type 12 would surge to over eighteen percent, even higher than that of the original Purple Firmament Type 12.

"We understand the difficulties faced by the Flying Sword Department. A procurement price of 1800 spirit stones is sufficient," Yaoguang agreed without hesitation.

"The higher-ups are very interested in the tactical concepts you proposed for the improved Purple Firmament Type 12, so they hope you can refine a batch as soon as possible. Sect Master Zhao will arrange for them to be deployed on the East Sea battlefield to verify this tactic in practice," Xiang Tianheng said.

"Oh? They plan to put it into practice that quickly?" Yaoguang was slightly surprised. The tactics he had proposed differed significantly from conventional approaches.

"In fact, similar tactics are already part of the Infinite Star Palace’s strategic layout, and their system is even more comprehensive. It includes not only sword cultivators and flying swords, but also spell cultivators and array arts to complete the combat framework, enabling layered, coordinated strikes. Because of this, the higher-ups have long understood that, in the future, battles between sects will rely on hybrid warfare and interoperability between different systems."

Xiang Tianheng’s expression grew somewhat grave. "The era of individual combat and small combat teams has already passed. Anyone who fails to keep up with this new future defined by hybrid combat systems will be eliminated by the sects that will implement those strategies before them."

At this point, he sighed helplessly. "And the three most important cornerstones of hybrid warfare, which are spirit cultivators, array arts, and artifact refinement, are precisely the areas where we have failed to keep pace with the world’s leading sects."

At present, the only truly outstanding strength within the Nine Cauldrons Sect was its body cultivators. Of course, there was also that Golden Core expert who had survived since the days of the Artifact Sect.

If not for that, the Nine Cauldrons Sect, whose overall strength was inferior to the Great Sun Sword Sect yet occupied several times more territory, would have long been forced to retreat and fortify itself in a single region.

Yaoguang listened and nodded. As the times advanced, tactics naturally evolved as well. In just a few hundred years, the cultivation system of the Great Cangwu World had progressed from the era of ancient cultivation into the era of modern cultivation, and now stood on the verge of entering an era of hybrid, integrated cultivation. This was a transformation unseen in a thousand years.

Nearby, Zhao Siliang glanced at Yaoguang, pondered briefly, and then said, "Speaking of which, we do not have that much time left... The Cangwu Alliance, which was formed by the representatives of the Ten Great Immortal Sects back then to counter the Lunar Fiend Empire, still exists. According to internal discussions, more than half of the Golden Core experts have tacitly agreed to achieve unification of the Great Cangwu World through competition below the Golden Core realm, so that all the world’s forces can be consolidated to face future crises similar to the Lunar Fiend Empire."

Yaoguang felt his heart stir. As his status rose, he naturally gained more exposure to the current situation in the Great Cangwu World.

Across the five major continents, aside from the Flowing Light Continent, where the Infinite Star Palace dominated unchallenged, the other four continents were all engulfed in constant warfare. On the Radiant Sun Continent, the Thousand-Beast Sect and the Immortal Alliance clashed endlessly. On the Cold Moon Continent, the Lunar Sect and the Dharma Heaven Pavilion were locked in a struggle. On the Black Flame Continent, the Golden Temple and numerous large and medium sects fought without pause.

As for the Heavenly Star Continent, where the Nine Cauldrons Sect was located, there was even less peace to speak of. In the East Sea, the Nine Cauldrons Sect was fighting the Great Sun Sword Sect, the Star Sea Sect, the First Yang Sect, the Great Yue Dynasty, the Xuanming Sect, and the Ancient Immortal Sect. In the direction of the Shiwan Mountains, the Brahma Divine Kingdom, the Taiyuan Dynasty, and the White Jade Sect were likewise embroiled in relentless conflict.

The Nine Cauldrons Sect's ordeal wasn't unique. Other sects were in the same situation. The Brahma Divine Kingdom fought bitterly with the Brahma Cult and the Brahma Sect over orthodoxy. The First Yang Sect split in two over disputes on which path was the right one to follow, whether the sword or the spells path. The White Jade Gate was divided among various races, mired in endless internal war.

As for farther regions, things were not any better there. The only difference lay in the intensity of the conflicts. Yaoguang had originally believed this chaos to be the aftershock of the war with the Lunar Fiend Empire, a reshuffling of power in its aftermath. Now, however, it seemed like that was not the case.

"The Six Great Immortal Sects all wanted to become the ruler of Cangwu. They confronted one another head-on. Some large sects were unwilling to fall behind and tried to play both sides, while the medium and small sects willingly became pawns, choosing their camps early in hopes of carving out a share of the spoils in the future..." Zhao Siliang said.

When Zhao Siliang reached this point, his tone grew heavy. "Medium and small sects can afford to be pawns. But large sects, and especially forces like ours that still hold a seat within the Cangwu Alliance at the level of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, have no room to retreat. We must grow stronger. Only by being strong enough can we deter the wolves around us and keep them from acting rashly, allowing us to develop in peace. Otherwise, we will end up like the Quicksand Sect, the Yang Psyche Sect, or the Pill Sect... Divided up and devoured, or possibly wiped out completely."

Seeing the atmosphere grow tense, Xiang Tianheng chuckled. "Our Nine Cauldrons Sect is not like the Quicksand Sect and those other forces. The sect’s foundations are far deeper than what appears on the surface."

As he spoke, he glanced at Yaoguang again. "That said, if you can truly build this combat system, the entire Flying Sword Department will owe you its thanks."

Yaoguang nodded. "I will do my best."

"Haha, then we’ll be waiting for good news," Xiang Tianheng said while looking at Zhao Siliang and Zhang Jianlin.

Zhang Jianlin immediately caught on. "Master Yun Lai and Master Wei Yan, why don’t you take Sect Master Zhao to tour the production workshops? We are quite curious how the Purple Firmament Institute’s production efficiency can reach such a level. You have four artifact-refinement masters and a hundred high-tier refiners working here. In theory, you should only be able to produce eighty to a hundred flying swords a month..."

As he spoke, he and Zhao Siliang led the unrelated personnel away. The others seemed to realize that Xiang Tianheng still had something important to discuss privately with Yaoguang and tactfully followed them out. Once everyone had left, Xiang Tianheng took out a jade box.

"This is something the Hall Master personally asked me to deliver to you. Open it and take a look." He smiled. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Yaoguang accepted the jade box with some confusion and opened it. It contained a nearly transparent pill, inside which one could see a circular current of air resembling a violet nebula slowly revolving. Just being illuminated by that purple light caused Yaoguang’s psychic mind to stir restlessly, as if it were about to condense into a primordial psyche.

Crap! For a moment, Yaoguang ignored everything else and forcibly suppressed his psychic thought, fearing that he might break through if he lost control even slightly.

Fortunately, Xiang Tianheng followed the qi refinement path rather than the psyche refinement path. He only sensed Yaoguang’s psychic thoughts surging with terrifying strength and had no idea what had truly occurred. He even assumed that the pill’s effects had granted Yaoguang some insight into psyche refinement.

He laughed at once. "This is a Psyche-Transforming Pill. Your foundations are even deeper than I expected. With this pill, I estimate it won’t be long before you condense a primordial psyche and step into the tier of great cultivators."

Yaoguang said nothing, focusing all his mental control on stabilizing his realm and preventing a breakthrough.

Only after a long while did he finally suppress that turbulent state, and only then he slowly exhaled, allowing himself to relax. He looked at the pill, which he had sealed back into the box, and smiled helplessly. "The sect... How can they give me something this precious?"

"Dong Liushui, an artifact-refinement grandmaster, carefully studied your design proposal. The concepts behind your flying sword design are already far ahead of the current era. He believes the key reason you failed to refine it into an astra lies in your cultivation. Once your psyche refinement realm advances further, your artifact refinement level will surely rise as well, allowing you to forge treasured artifacts and become a true artifact-refinement grandmaster," Xiang Tianheng explained.

The Nine Cauldrons Sect had no shortage of capable people. But right now, Yaoguang did not want this. Refusing even a Psyche-Transforming Pill was clearly abnormal behavior. Even though his relationship with the Nine Cauldrons Sect was currently amicable, that did not mean he was willing to reveal his greatest secret. Even if doing so would maximize his benefits.

In the end, he didn't feel safe revealing his secrets. And what he had pursued all along was personal safety.

I must delay it a bit longer... Yaoguang told himself.

At the very least, he wanted to raise his Martial Dao to the Star God Realm and his Psyche Dao to the Dharma Form Realm first.

"Please convey my thanks to Hall Master Xu and tell him that I am grateful," Yaoguang said.

"Haha, don’t worry. I’ll pass it along." As Xiang Tianheng spoke, he took out another pouch. "This is a private reward from our Artifact Refinement Hall. There isn’t much, but it represents our goodwill. I hope you won’t mind."

When Yaoguang saw the pouch, his heart stirred. "This is..."

"A storage pouch," Xiang Tianheng nodded.

A smile immediately appeared on Yaoguang’s face.

In the Great Cangwu World, storage pouches were by no means common tools. Every storage pouch was an astra-level treasure, and those with larger capacity could even be considered strategic resources. Compared to the Psyche-Transforming Pill, Yaoguang was far more satisfied with this storage pouch.