Yaoguang was a twenty-one-year-old dual cultivator with solid progress in both body refinement and psyche refinement. Furthermore, he possessed artifact refinement skills almost comparable to those of an artifact-refinement master. Such a talent would be considered among the best even within the Nine Cauldrons Sect.

Seeing Yaoguang agree, Zhang Jianlin and Qin Yi both breathed a sigh of relief. Their trip to recruit him had not been in vain.

Lin Sen, watching from the side, felt a touch of envy. Although he was a veteran high-tier artifact refiner, he was getting older. It was unlikely he would ever enter the realm of a great cultivator, and it was even questionable whether he could ever earn the title of master in artifact refinement. In comparison, Yaoguang's future was truly boundless.

"We thought of a few options before we arrived and wrote them down," Zhang Jianlin said, unfolding three pieces of paper. "The first is to send you to the main branch for advanced studies. Although you have reached the seventh realm of body refinement, there are many similar geniuses at the main branch. If you choose to go there, I recommend that you focus on psyche refinement. The sect provides the greatest level of support for psyche refinement disciples. For those within the same realm, the resources enjoyed by a psyche refinement disciple are ten times those of a body refiner. I am also willing to fight to get you treatment equivalent to a true disciple, with an annual salary of 120 spirit stones..."

Yaoguang glanced at the documents. Essentially, they had tailored three plans based on his characteristics, focusing on body refinement, psyche refinement, and artifact refinement, respectively.

Among the three, prioritizing psyche refinement would offer him the most substantial support from the sect. Artifact refinement and body refinement came with fewer resources and support. The plan focusing on body refinement provided the least, only a tenth of the resources of the psyche refinement path. This made it clear which type of talent the Nine Cauldrons Sect needed most urgently.

There was no denying that an annual salary of 120 spirit stones was rather high, and it even came with other benefits and various subsidies upon reaching certain milestones, but despite all that, Yaoguang still found it a bit lacking. Furthermore, psyche refinement was not the best option when it came to direct combat, and since his ultimate goal was to ensure his personal safety, making psyche refinement his primary focus felt inappropriate. He didn't possess the kind of selfless spirit required to sacrifice himself for others. Therefore...

"I choose this one," Yaoguang said, picking up one of the papers.

"Artifact refinement as the primary path, psyche refinement as the secondary path, and body refinement as the supplementary path..." Zhang Jianlin was slightly taken aback. He quickly added, "Yaoguang, perhaps you should reconsider the plan focused on psyche refinement. Compared to artifact refinement or body refinement, it is easier to see results and obtain more resources in that field. Furthermore..."

He quickly spread out another set of data. "Look. This is a combat system based on psyche refinement, and supplemented by both artifact refinement and body refinement. You would specialize in the Spirit-Suppressing Visualization Art. The psychic thought derived from this visualization art can greatly suppress the spirituality of refined artifacts and spirit artifacts. For artifact refinement, you would specialize in spiritual power deconstruction to understand the connections between spiritual power and refined artifacts, as well as their operating principles, and find opportunities to sabotage them. As for body refinement, you would focus on the Xuanwu Martial God-Fiend Body to forge a Xuanwu Martial God-Fiend Form. The stellar force field it can draw upon is powerful enough to withstand attacks even from flying swords below the treasured artifact level."[1]

The Star Lord Realm was divided into three stages: the early stage, where one drew upon a stellar force field for empowerment; the middle stage, where one used their own Life Force Field to evolve a stellar force field; and the late stage, where one increased their own mass to become a literal incarnation of a stellar fiend god.

However, different god-fiend bodies represented different paths. The Xuanwu God-Fiend Form was slow and had weak offensive power, but its defense was formidable. Other god-fiend bodies offered aerial combat capabilities, higher speed, or exceptional offensive power.

"Once the Xuanwu God-Fiend Form draws in the stellar force field, it can already resist all attacks below the treasured artifact level," Zhang Jianlin explained. "Combined with the impact of spiritual power deconstruction on flying swords and refined artifacts, as well as the suppression from the Spirit-Suppressing Visualization Art, even a treasured-artifact-level flying sword would fail to break your defense. Moreover, due to the nature of these arts, you could effectively suppress the power of an enemy's flying sword by an entire level, as long as it's not at the treasured artifact level."

As he spoke, Zhang Jianlin opened a map. "The psychic thought range of a psyche cultivator who has just cultivated a primordial psyche can extend over a hundred kilometers. If the primordial psyche reaches the mastery stage, that range can extend to thousands of kilometers. In other words, you'd be able to reduce the power of all spirit artifacts within thousands of kilometers of you by one tier. With your powerful defenses, you could stand firm on the front lines of a battlefield. The area around you would be like a forbidden zone for flying swords, completely neutralizing the threat of opposing sword cultivators."

"I understand." Yaoguang nodded slightly. But he did not intend to practice the Xuanwu God-Fiend Body.

"I can practice the Spirit-Suppressing Visualization Art and learn spiritual power deconstruction," Yaoguang said with a smile. "But rather than standing on the front lines as a suppression fortress, I prefer to cultivate a god-fiend body with powerful offensive capabilities, such as the Heaven-Burning Vermilion Bird God-Fiend Body. By rapidly rotating the stellar magnetic field and my own force field in opposite directions, I can form a highly destructive True Vermilion Bird Flame Domain. If I combine that and the other techniques, any flying sword entering the domain would have its spirituality weakened, its spiritual power disrupted, and finally, its structure would shatter, causing it to be incinerated by the domain. Wouldn't that be more effective?"

Zhang Jianlin was stunned for a moment before replying, "The True Vermilion Bird Flame Domain is not actually that powerful..."

"That is why I need a god-fiend body even more powerful than the standard Vermilion Bird one. I also need to master psyche cultivation arts and secret arts against refined artifacts and flying swords that are stronger than the ones currently mentioned," Yaoguang said.

"Times have changed. The era where one person was responsible for an entire battlefield is over; today is about coordination," Qin Yi said solemnly from the side. "If you can ensure your safety with the Xuanwu God-Fiend Body while standing on the front lines, using your spirit-suppressing power to disrupt the enemy's equipment, you would surely create openings for our own sword cultivators. When they strike, they could destroy the enemy's life-bound flying sword much more efficiently and deal a heavy blow. This kind of coordination is far more effective than you trying to do it all with the Vermilion Bird God-Fiend Body."

He added pointedly, "There is a saying: you have to be able to stand your ground to deal damage."

"I will consider it," Yaoguang replied.

He believed that once he raised his Martial Dao realm further, a stellar fiend god body that balanced both offense and defense would eventually appear.

"In addition, the salary and subsidies mentioned here aren't the most important things, regardless of whether they match a true disciple's. What matters is that I hope to have my own artifact refinement workshop," Yaoguang said.

"You plan to focus primarily on artifact refinement for the time being?" Zhang Jianlin asked.

"Yes. I believe a breakthrough in my artifact refinement ability is imminent. Once I achieve that, I expect I will receive even better treatment. It won't be too late to turn my full attention back to body and psyche refinement then," Yaoguang replied.

"A wise choice," Qin Yi noted. "However, artifact refinement is no longer conducted in a simple workshop model. Instead, we establish different artifact refinement institutes based on various specializations. Lord Yaoguang, what is your area of expertise?"

"What is my area of expertise..." Yaoguang muttered.

The information Yaoguang had obtained from his Refiner branch was inherently comprehensive. However, within the Nine Cauldrons Sect, body cultivators were the most numerous. Theoretically, they represented the largest market. Yet, this market was not only crowded with competitors, but body cultivators also tended to be less wealthy. Furthermore, battle armor was not a strictly essential requirement for them.

In contrast, every sword cultivator nurtured a life-bound flying sword. It was an object into which they poured their very life; while the cultivator would not die if the sword broke, if a life-bound flying sword were destroyed, the sword cultivator would suffer a severe blow to their vitality, and would usually need three to five years to recover.

Under such circumstances, a high-quality flying sword was worth a sword cultivator spending their entire fortune to acquire. Therefore, refining swords was the most cost-effective option.

"Flying swords," Yaoguang said, then added, "Not the civilian variety, but the life-bound flying sword market."

"Life-bound flying swords?!" Qin Yi and Zhang Jianlin exchanged looks. This was the most high-end market, the very pinnacle of the flying sword industry, and it was almost entirely monopolized by the Six Great Immortal Sects.

After some thought, Qin Yi spoke up. "Generally speaking, disciples focus on cultivation and study, and they're not allowed to hold official positions. However, since you intend to focus on artifact refinement, and your skill in the craft is already near the level of an artifact-refinement master... If you were to go to the main branch, I could pull some strings to get you a position at one of the sword refinement institutes. But if you are willing to stay in the Nine Heavens Domain..."

He smiled. "The previous chief of Purple Firmament Sword-Forging Institute, a local brand here in the Nine Heavens Domain, was recently dismissed for failing to complete assigned tasks several times. The position of chief is currently vacant. I could apply to the sect master to have you appointed as the chief of the Purple Firmament Institute." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I will stay in the Nine Heavens Domain," Yaoguang said without hesitation.

Zhang Jianlin reminded him from the side, "The training efficiency at the main branch is still significantly higher than at the other branches. We usually recommend that our most exceptional disciples go to the main branch..."

"It doesn't matter. I was able to reach the seventh realm of body refinement and the sixth realm of psyche refinement in a small world while honing my artifact refinement skills to a near-master level. This shows that my self-study abilities are adequate. It makes no difference whether I go to the main branch or not. Besides, the database of the side branches' Void Psychic World is connected to the main branch. If there is anything I do not understand, I can simply enter the main branch through the Void Psychic World to ask questions," Yaoguang said.

Yaoguang continued, looking back at Qin Yi, "Also, there is no need for such trouble. I do not need to be entered into the disciple records when I join the sect. I can simply join by applying for the position of chief of the Purple Firmament Institute."

"But if you do that, you will lose all the various benefits that come with being a disciple," Zhang Jianlin noted.

"If I can make the Purple Firmament Institute flourish, the dividends belonging to the Institute Chief will be far higher than the benefits of a true disciple," Yaoguang said with a smile.

"The Nine Cauldrons Sect does not have much of an advantage in the life-bound flying sword market," Zhang Jianlin said diplomatically.

"Then we will simply establish our own brand advantage," Yaoguang said calmly. "Theoretically, a life-bound flying sword can be nurtured starting from the seventh realm of qi refinement. However, a nurtured sword is not necessarily better just because it is stronger. The more powerful a life-bound flying sword is, the slower the nurturing efficiency and the greater the consumption during use. It might take a sword cultivator at the seventh realm of qi refinement only a year or two to nurture a low-grade spirit artifact, but for a high-grade spirit artifact, they might not succeed even after eight or ten years. It all depends on our market positioning."

Seeing how confident Yaoguang was, Zhang Jianlin found it difficult to say more. He simply turned to Qin Yi and asked, "If the Purple Firmament Institute fails its level rating four years from now, won't it be downgraded from a branch-level artifact refinement institute to a city-level one?"

"Yaoguang is not a true artifact-refinement master yet, after all. It is precisely because the Purple Firmament Institute is facing a downgrade that it will be easier for the sect master to process his appointment as chief." Qin Yi looked at Yaoguang with sharp, spirited eyes. "It all depends on whether you are confident that you can take your artifact refinement skills a step further within these four years."

"Four years is enough," Yaoguang answered directly.

"Very well. I will take you to see the sect master immediately." Qin Yi looked delighted. Keeping someone like Yaoguang, who was destined to become an artifact-refinement master, in the Nine Heavens Domain was a great boon for their Nine Heavens Domain branch.

1. Xuanwu or Xuandi, also known as Zhenwu or Zhenwu Dadi, is a revered deity in Chinese religion, one of the higher-ranking deities in Daoism. ☜