"A High-grade spirit artifact..." Yaoguang mumbled as he stood in front of his workbench.

From the very beginning, sword cultivation involved continuously tempering one’s true qi together with a flying sword, eventually refining the life-bound flying sword into something akin to an outer core.

However, an outer core was ultimately not the sword cultivator. Thus, the farther the life-bound flying sword moved from its wielder, the weaker the sword cultivator’s perception and control became.

Without sufficient cultivator control, no matter how fast or lethal a life-bound flying sword was, its largely linear flight trajectory made it easy for agile sword cultivators to evade.

Great cultivators fared somewhat better. Their control range over a life-bound flying sword could extend to dozens of kilometers. Those who practiced special methods such as the Supreme Perception Sword Art could even command their swords as effortlessly as their own limbs from fifty kilometers away.

But high-tier sword cultivators were different. Their effective killing range dropped directly to five kilometers, or even just two or three kilometers. As a result, to ensure they could contribute, high-tier sword cultivators often had to charge to within a few kilometers, sometimes less than half a kilometer, and engage in life-and-death combat.

Such combat was extremely dangerous and could easily result in the sword cultivators getting severely injured. Because of this, the improved version of the Purple Firmament Type 12 flying sword, which Yaoguang was in the process of refining, placed its core emphasis on control.

But this control did not refer to the sword cultivator’s control over the flying sword. It referred to the control of primordial psyche cultivators.

Since the Nine Cauldrons Sect intends to crush the Xuanming Sect with thunderous force, the number of primordial psyche cultivators it will dispatch will naturally be higher than the opponent's. The Nine Heavens Domain is one of the three domains directly facing the East Sea, and already has two hundred body cultivators, fifty sword cultivators, thirty spell cultivators, and twelve psyche cultivators stationed there. Recently, to counter the Xuanming Sect and prevent them from making a desperate last stand, those numbers have increased significantly. The number of great sword cultivators has already exceeded one hundred, while primordial psyche cultivators have surpassed twenty.

A lineup with twenty psyche cultivators could not be called weak, and it would provide a clear advantage.

Depending on their cultivation arts, psyche cultivators specialize in different directions. Some excel at scanning and reconnaissance, allowing them to precisely detect all targets within several thousand kilometers, including those hidden by secret arts or concealment methods. Others specialize in guidance and tracking, leading flying swords to carry out beyond-visual-range attacks. The last group focuses on counter-interference. Zhang Jianlin previously recommended that I take that route, but given the characteristics of the Taiyuan Psyche Refinement Technique, the Thousand-Spirit Master, and the Psyche King trait, the path best suited to me is clearly guidance and tracking.

He studied the flying sword design diagram that was gradually taking shape before him. To ensure that these flying swords can later become part of the Thousand-Spirit Master’s arsenal, the improved Purple Firmament Type 12 should focus entirely on these aspects. All of its functions have to serve this goal.

This was an unprecedented path, one that placed extremely high demands on psyche cultivators. Logically, such a route did not suit the Nine Cauldrons Sect, where psyche cultivators were scarce. But psyche cultivators were scarce everywhere.

Aside from the Six Great Immortal Secs, or more precisely aside from the Infinite Star Palace, the Thousand-Beast Sect, and the Immortal Alliance, even factions like the Dharma Heaven Pavilion, the Golden Temple, and the Lunar Sect lacked many powerful psyche cultivators worth mentioning. Let alone mid- or small-sized sects like the Xuanming Sect.

Thus, while the Nine Cauldrons Sect lacked psyche cultivators, the Xuanming Sect was even more lacking. And this cultivation system, which placed extreme emphasis on realm, suited Yaoguang perfectly. If not for concerns that the psyche cultivation system lacked sufficient direct combat power, he would have already pushed his psyche cultivation realm to its limit.

But if he could use the Taiyuan Psyche Refinement Technique, the Thousand-Spirit Master, and the Psyche King to command flying swords and form his own combat system, then there was no reason he could not temporarily set the Martial Dao branch aside and focus on the Psyche Dao branch instead.

After all, riding the void on the wind, coming and going through the heavens, traveling the seas by morning and reaching the land by dusk was what being an immortal truly meant.

"Compared to a primordial psyche cultivator who guides ten thousand swords to slay enemies from thousands of kilometers away, a star lord who smashes foes with his fists is not very immortal-like," Yaoguang said.

Of course, the Martial Dao still had to be cultivated. The Martial Dao ensured his personal safety, while the Psyche Dao ensured the safety of the surrounding environment. By combining the two, he could ultimately carve out a path of his own. He temporarily named it the martial immortal path.

He would be an immortal who dined on wind and dew, transcended the mundane world, and lived freely and eternally. But if enemies insisted on shattering that transcendence and ease, he could use his Martial Dao on them instead.

"It’s done." Relying on his rich artifact refinement experience that didn't belong only to the Great Cangwu World, a single night was enough for Yaoguang to complete the improvement of the Purple Firmament Type 12 flying sword.

"Maximum speed increased to Mach 4.4. Damage raised to 8.1. Spiritual energy consumption increased to 455. Stability was almost entirely sacrificed, though. Now, only primordial psyche cultivators can unleash the flying sword's true power. However, I added a new attribute: compatibility. A primordial psyche cultivator’s psychic thought can integrate with a sword cultivator’s psychic consciousness within this flying sword. With the support of primordial psyche cultivators' psychic thought, the optimal killing range rises to forty kilometers," Yaoguang said.

That already exceeded the effective range of most great cultivators. Moreover, forty kilometers was the optimal killing range. Within that distance, the sword cultivator could command the sword as if it were an extension of the body.

As for the maximum killing range, it reached a full eighty kilometers. In other words, even if the flying sword was launched from eighty kilometers away, it could still maintain a Mach 4.4 speed and damage as high as 8.1. At most, it would lose flexibility in turning and changing direction. The flight path would become rigid and easier to predict.

But an eighty-kilometer attack range was more than enough to grant sword cultivators the ability to strike first before the enemy could react, and possibly even strike more than once. If a primordial psyche cultivator coordinated the battlefield, an entire squad could release four flying swords at once, each moving at a speed higher than Mach 4 and focusing on a single target.

So what if the swords were not flexible enough? It was not as though they could not turn at all. With a primordial psyche cultivator coordinating, guiding, and tracking, could the enemy evade one sword, or two, and then still avoid the third and fourth?

If everything went smoothly, by the time both sides truly clashed, having struck first twice in a row would have been enough to eliminate two members of the opposing squad.

The advantages are obvious: High damage, high speed, long range. The drawback is equally obvious. It relies extremely heavily on primordial psyche cultivators. In the end, it comes down to how the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s higher-ups choose to use it. Yaoguang checked the design once more and stored it.

Completing the improvement of the Purple Firmament Type 12 in a single night was far too exaggerated. He could not submit it yet. Once the current Purple Firmament Type 12 orders were mostly done in another two or three months, it would not be too late to present it then.

In truth, the Purple Firmament Type 12 flying sword still has room for improvement. That lies in array arts. Normally, due to its size and speed requirements, a flying sword lacks the area needed to host full arrays. But if a top-tier array master helps optimize it, its performance could still be pushed to an entirely new level. Yaoguang felt a trace of regret.

Because array arts lagged behind, the Purple Firmament Type 12 had reached the world’s highest standard among the low-grade spirit artifacts. But it was only the world's highest standard. There was still a small gap separating it from being the world's best, let alone something truly era-defining.

With the teams of Wei Yan and Lu Yuan joining in, the artifact refinement efficiency of the Purple Firmament Institute rose to yet another tier. It had already reached the level of producing six hundred spirit-artifact-level flying swords per month.

To complete the order as quickly as possible, Yaoguang kept his psychic thought almost constantly enveloping the Purple Firmament Institute, ensuring that all refinement work proceeded in an orderly and rapid manner.

While Yaoguang worked overtime refining Purple Firmament Type 12 flying swords, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s sword cultivators were simultaneously fighting across the East Sea. Almost every day, fresh battle reports arrived.

These results spread through the Void Psychic World across the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect. For a time, morale throughout the sect surged, and confidence reached an unprecedented high. However, the Xuanming Sect clearly had no intention of waiting for death.

No one knew what kind of deal they had struck with the Great Sun Sword Sect. In the third month of high-tier sword cultivator clashes, the Great Sun Sword Sect suddenly announced that it would conduct a large-scale military drill near Haige Island the following month.

The Great Sun Sword Sect publicly declared that this drill would involve several primordial psyche cultivators, over two hundred Foundation Building great sword cultivators, more than one hundred spell cultivators, and an unspecified number of high-tier sword cultivators providing auxiliary support.

They also claimed that the drill targeted no individual and no faction, serving only as training to improve coordination among their sword cultivators.

The news caused an uproar. There were going to be two hundred Foundation Building great sword cultivators! That scale was anything but small. Especially since nearly all of those two hundred great sword cultivators were equipped with second-generation astra flying swords. A small number were even equipped with third-generation astra flying swords.

At a time when most Nine Cauldrons Sect great sword cultivators were still using first-generation astra flying swords, a sword cultivator force exceeding two hundred in number possessed combat power comparable to at least half of the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s entire sword cultivator strength.

If that force were directed at the Xuanming Sect, the Xuanming Sect would likely face outright annihilation. But that was not the core issue. The real issue was that Haige Island was territory controlled by the Nine Cauldrons Sect.

Moreover, it lay only eight thousand kilometers from the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s mainland. For the Great Sun Sword Sect to conduct drills near Haige Island was no different from brandishing weapons at the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s doorstep.

If the Nine Cauldrons Sect failed to respond with enough strength, and the Great Sun Sword Sect normalized such drills over time, that would effectively amount to control over Haige Island and its surrounding waters.

At the same time, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s already limited eastern maritime reach of roughly ten thousand kilometers would be compressed to seven thousand five hundred kilometers.

For great sword cultivators whose maximum flight speeds often reached Mach 10, Mach 20, or even higher, that distance was effectively a sealed gate. It would mean the complete loss of control over the East Sea's islands.

***

"They’re canceling it?" Yaoguang looked at Zhang Jianlin, who had brought the news, momentarily stunned.

"The Purple Firmament Type 12 flying sword order will still be completed, but the improved model has to be put on hold. Our strategic focus has to shift to Haige Island," the branch elder said gravely. "Compared to Posuo Island, which only controls a stretch of sea, Haige Island contains a spiritual power node. Over the past few years, we mobilized thousands of array masters to finally complete a level 4 spirit-gathering array there. By estimation, that array alone can generate an additional two hundred thousand spirit stones annually. We never expected that the moment the array was completed, those wolves from the Great Sun Sword Sect would catch the scent."

"And the Xuanming Sect?" Yaoguang asked.

"We keep fighting. But we switch to a primarily defensive strategy." Zhang Jianlin sighed, his tone tinged with helplessness. "Because of the difference in strategic value, the higher-ups are already discussing the possibility of temporarily shelving the dispute over Posuo Island if necessary."