"Hahaha, good!" Zhan Yunfei burst into laughter. He even reached out and caught the flying sword that had been chasing them moments earlier, which had now frozen and started falling after losing its master.

After killing that sword cultivator, Yun Qing did not pause. He turned and accelerated with all his strength, dodging the flying sword attack from another sword cultivator.

In less than five kilometers, his speed had already reached its limit. After leaving the pursuing flying sword far behind, he quickly caught up to the sword cultivator who had just launched the attack.

That sword cultivator seemed similar to Tu Hong, specializing in close-range flying sword combat. His flying sword could turn and dodge with incredible agility, but it could do nothing when pitted against a flying sword with Mach 2.7 speed; thanks to that, Yun Qing simply crushed all of the enemy's cultivator techniques with sheer force.

When the two swords collided, the opponent’s flying sword was knocked away and shattered by the Purple Firmament Type 12, which carried terrifying momentum. The follow-up sword qi then tore the man apart mid-air.

For sword cultivators, speed was the most critical attribute. As long as one was fast enough, they'd gain an overwhelming advantage in battle. Of course, damage could not be lacking either. If one's flying sword could be shattered by a single strike in a direct clash, speed alone would be meaningless.

At present, however, the Xuanming Sect’s sword cultivators were clearly not strong enough to take Yun Qing’s flying sword head-on. Thus, Yun Qing's advantage grew with every passing moment. By the time Tu Hong and Zhang Lie caught up, the third enemy had already fallen under Yun Qing’s sword.

"Charge!"

"You are not taking all the credit for yourself!"

Seeing this, the two of them joined the fray without hesitation. With their addition, the battlefield, which was already dominated by Yun Qing, turned completely one-sided. The remaining three enemies were quickly killed one after another.

Despite fighting four against six after being ambushed, and without relying on any primordial psyche cultivator support, Yun Qing's squad achieved a complete victory over the six sword cultivators from Xuanming Sect by relying only on their speed advantage.

"So satisfying!" Tu Hong pumped his fist excitedly.

"That primordial psyche cultivator is closing in!" Zhan Yunfei said quickly.

"We are leaving!" Yun Qing said without wasting time. He took Zhan Yunfei with him as they tore through the air and retreated toward Hall Master Bai Lu’s position.

Fighting the enemy sect’s sword cultivators within the psychic thought range of a primordial psyche cultivator was inherently disadvantageous.

Earlier, they had chased the six sword cultivators for over fifty kilometers. At the same time, that primordial psyche cultivator had also advanced more than fifty kilometers toward them. Once all of the movement was accounted for, the distance between them and that primordial psyche cultivator might have been reduced to less than three hundred kilometers.

At such a distance, a primordial psyche cultivator’s psyche refinement methods were already sufficient to interfere with them in multiple ways, which included but weren't limited to slowing their thinking, affecting their reaction speed, or even casting illusions to confuse their psychic minds.

In an environment where combat routinely occurred at several times the speed of sound or even over ten times the speed of sound, a momentary lapse of focus could mean the difference between life and death. Thus, the four of them retreated decisively.

That primordial psyche cultivator pursued them for a short while, but as the Heavenly Palaces' great cultivators gradually reconnected with this region and the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s Void Psychic World communication was restored, he ultimately had no choice but to withdraw in frustration.

"The Purple Firmament Type 12 flying sword is truly excellent. It allowed my speed advantage to be pushed to the absolute limit," Yun Qing said excitedly.

"It's not just speed. I also felt that the power of my Supreme Perception Sword Art was amplified quite a bit," Zhan Yunfei said with visible delight.

"That is the life-bound flying sword trait," Zhang Lie explained. "This flying sword is equivalent to a life-bound flying sword for us, so it naturally allows us to fully unleash our strength."

He paused, then added, "It is just a bit lacking in burst power. If it were a middle-grade spirit artifact or a high-grade spirit artifact, it would probably be even better."

"Middle-grade and high-grade spirit artifacts are great, but their consumption is also huge. If the enemy were willing to send sword cultivators at the sixth realm of qi refinement to wear us down, how many strikes could we even launch with a high-grade spirit artifact? This spirit sword is just right," Tu Hong said.

"Enough. Let's head back. Killing six enemies means each of us will earn a share of merit."

***

At the Hundred-Refinement Sect, several disciples had gathered around a young man who looked to be in his twenties, their faces filled with envy.

"Luo Qi, your cultivation speed is insane."

"Yeah, I remember you only broke through to the fourth realm of body refinement a month ago. It's only been a short time, and you are already at the fifth realm?"

"How is your qi refinement aptitude? Are you thinking of switching to qi refinement?"

Facing the questions and admiration, Luo Qi smiled broadly.

"My qi refinement aptitude is average, only 31 points. In ancient times, that would not even qualify as detectable mixed spirit roots. The academy advised against taking the qi refinement path, so I chose to go all in on body refinement. Otherwise, I would have started qi refinement long ago, condensed the psyche, cultivated psychic consciousness, and applied to the Energy Department." He laughed as he spoke.[1]

"Going all in is one thing, but this is way too fast," one acquaintance could not help asking. "Did you spend money on it?"

"I spent a little," Luo Qi answered with a nod.

"That is more than a little. Cultivating psychic will in a month... Don't tell me you used Psyche-Concentrating Pills? Those can only be bought with spirit stones. A single bottle costs twelve spirit stones." A disciple exclaimed in shock.

"You have a sharp eye. It was indeed Psyche-Concentrating Pills," Luo Qi said, giving him a thumbs-up.

"What are you all crowding around for? If you have time to chat, you might as well train properly." Huang Yunqi walked in from outside, her expression stern.

The disciples were clearly a little afraid of her. They quickly dispersed and returned to their training.

Only the person beside Luo Qi added, "Luo Qi has cultivated psychic will. We were congratulating him."

"Psychic will?" Huang Yunqi looked at Luo Qi, her expression clearly surprised.

Ordinarily, anyone who came to cultivate at the Hundred-Refinement Sect would be observed closely for a period of time by Huang Yunqi and Yang Kaitai.

If their talent proved decent, tuition would be waived, and they would be accepted into the inner sect. Those with exceptional talent might even be taken in as disciples by Sect Master Zong Lian himself, becoming direct disciples of the sect master.

But Luo Qi's talent had been utterly average, and he had long since been excluded from consideration for admission into the inner sect. She, along with several junior brothers who were high-tier cultivators, had already concluded that he would never step into the realm of high-tier cultivators in his lifetime.

At best, he would become a Martial Dao hobby class instructor or a security team captain. With the right connections, he might join the public security force or become a market administrator. He would never lack food or clothing, but wealth was out of reach.

"Your father actually supports your cultivation this much? He even bought Psyche-Concentrating Pills for you?" Huang Yunqi felt genuinely surprised.

She had a fairly clear understanding of every trainee’s family background. Luo Qi’s father was a high-tier artifact refiner. In that line of work, annual income amounted to only two or three spirit stones at most. After expenses, it was uncertain whether a single spirit stone could even be saved in a year. In other words, a single bottle of Psyche-Concentrating Pills would require ten years of savings for their family to afford.

"My father has always supported my cultivation," Luo Qi said, his face filled with smiles. "Before, we did not have the money, so we could not afford expensive pills. But recently, the artifact refinement institute he works at has been doing extremely well. He even earned a small merit and received a sizable bonus last month. On his way back, he bought me a bottle of Psyche-Concentrating Pills to help me condense psychic will."

"A bonus? A single bonus of over ten spirit stones?" Huang Yunqi was stunned.

She helped manage the Hundred-Refinement Sect year-round, handling matters big and small, exhausting herself daily, yet her annual income was only around ten spirit stones. But a high-tier artifact refiner had received over ten spirit stones in a single bonus?

"Yes. I heard that almost every artifact refiner received a bonus. Some high-tier artifact refiners even received twenty or thirty spirit stones," Luo Qi said wistfully.

"Twenty or thirty spirit stones! How is that possible?!" Unable to hold back, Huang Yunqi asked, "Which artifact refinement institute does your father work at?"

"He works at the Purple Firmament Institute." Luo Qi clearly carried a young man’s sense of pride and made no effort to hide it.

"The Purple Firmament Institute!" The moment she heard those words, Huang Yunqi’s expression froze.

After a long pause, she could not help but ask, "Wasn’t the Purple Firmament Institute about to be downgraded? How could it possibly have such a good performance!"

"That was before. According to my father, a new chief arrived. He is extremely capable. Under his leadership, the entire Purple Firmament Institute has flourished. They secured several major orders from the main branch in a row." Luo Qi spoke with clear respect. "My father and his colleagues said the Purple Firmament Institute has already been listed as a key supported unit within the Nine Heavens Domain. If this continues, it might even challenge for designation as a sect-level key artifact refinement institute."

"A sect-level key artifact refinement institute..." Huang Yunqi stared, disbelief written all over her face.

A few months earlier, when Yaoguang left the Hundred-Refinement Sect and was addressed by others as "Chief," her emotions had already been complicated. She had quietly investigated and learned that Yaoguang had taken up the position of chief within the Purple Firmament Institute.

At the time, although she felt conflicted, rumors of the Purple Firmament Institute’s impending downgrade kept her emotions in check.

But now, according to Luo Qi, not only had the Purple Firmament Institute avoided being downgraded, it had instead flourished under Yaoguang’s leadership! Its business was so strong that it could directly distribute bonuses of dozens of spirit stones to high-tier artifact refiners!

If it could afford bonuses of that scale, how much profit was the Purple Firmament Institute making? And as chief, how many spirit stones would Yaoguang himself be earning?

For a moment, Huang Yunqi’s mind went blank. When she finally came back to herself, she could no longer be bothered with Luo Qi or with teaching disciples. She quickly mobilized her own connections and channels to inquire about the Purple Firmament Institute.

The Hundred-Refinement Sect was, after all, a civilian force with great cultivators stationed within. As a figure akin to a chief administrator of the Hundred-Refinement Sect, Huang Yunqi had access to reliable information channels. After some inquiries, she quickly obtained a general picture.

Just last month alone, the Purple Firmament Institute had distributed two thousand spirit stones in bonuses to its artifact refiners. Its profits were conservatively estimated to exceed fifteen thousand spirit stones. As chief, depending on contribution, one could typically claim thirty to seventy percent of an artifact refinement institute’s profits. In other words... Yaoguang, as chief, had earned at least five thousand spirit stones!

On top of that—at least according to what her contacts had told her—this order still had several subsequent batches planned. This meant that once the entire contract was completed, Yaoguang’s total income could reach ten to twenty thousand spirit stones!

What did this number mean? For her, a heavenly being at the eighth realm of body refinement, it would take one or two thousand years of nonstop work to accumulate that much! But Yaoguang had achieved that in a year!

After leaving the Hundred-Refinement Sect, Yaoguang had risen meteorically in just a few months! At that thought, regret welled up in Huang Yunqi’s heart.

If Yaoguang had not left the Hundred-Refinement Sect and had instead remained there, an income of ten to twenty thousand spirit stones would have directly increased the Hundred-Refinement Sect’s overall revenue tenfold.

At that point, would their own income not have risen as well, perhaps reaching hundreds of spirit stones a year? For a moment, the eldest senior sister of the Hundred-Refinement Sect felt utterly lost.

1. Spirit root is a term used to describe a cultivator's talent, very common in wuxia/xianxia novels. It allows a cultivator to absorb spiritual qi from the world to cultivate. ☜