"Sect Master, the Infinite Star Palace’s Sky Patrol Warship has sent a warning," the psyche-refining disciple responsible for communications reported to Zhao Siliang. "They claimed that we stole the Infinite Star Palace’s advanced technology and said that as long as we handed over the person who took the technology, they would withdraw—"

Before he could finish, Zhao Siliang interrupted without hesitation. "This matter must never be mentioned again!"

He said with absolute certainty, "This is the enemy’s psychological warfare. If our Nine Cauldrons Sect cannot even protect its own talents, won't that disappoint every loyal follower? And do you really believe that if we handed someone over, they would retreat? The Infinite Star Palace worships strength and despises weakness. The softer you are, the more they will cross the line!"

The disciple immediately fell silent. He understood the logic. But aside from this option, he truly did not know what else could preserve Longxiang City, or even the Nine Heavens Domain itself.

The Nine Cauldrons Sect’s territory was simply too vast. The Sword Wielders, the only force within the sect capable of confronting a Sky Patrol Warship, could not reach the Nine Heavens Domain battlefield in time. By the time they arrived, the enemy would already have achieved its objective and withdrawn at leisure.

"Zhao He." Zhao Siliang addressed a communications channel. "Can't we break even a single layer of their array?"

"Our flying-sword arrays cannot even approach the Sky Patrol Warship," Zhao He replied meekly. "The moment we draw near, the sword arrays are suppressed and shattered. Without flying swords to break through, our spells—with their dispersed energy output—simply cannot penetrate the warship’s defensive array." Zhao He sounded weak.

After a pause, he added, "Breaking a single layer of its array would take at least ten minutes. To threaten the warship’s core... would take at least five hours."

Five hours would be enough for the enemy to take everything in the Purple Firmament Institute—or even in all of Longxiang City—and bring it away. And that was assuming that the Sky Patrol Warship would continue to focus on defending without counterattacking.

If it counterattacked and weakened their forces, there would be no fight at all. The power of a single domain could not contend with a Sky Patrol Warship. Only the combined forces of five or ten domains might qualify to confront a Sky Patrol Warship from the Infinite Star Palace!

Zhao Siliang took a deep breath. Then, with visible exhaustion, he turned to another disciple. "Connect me to the Sect Master."

***

High above the heavens, within the first Heavenly Palace, a projected image of Li Qingshan appeared before a man who looked no more than thirty years old, yet whose temples were already streaked with white.

This was a figure that any great cultivator of the Great Cangwu World would recognize at first glance. He was the supreme elder of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, one of the strongest experts of this age, the world-stabilizing existence who had condensed a Radiant Sun Golden Core—Li Hanqiu. He shared the surname Li with Li Qingshan, but they were not related by blood.

The palace was no more than a hundred meters across, yet every inch of its surface, from floor to ceiling, was carved with countless array patterns.

Within, a calm voice echoed, "A large wild elephant consumes half a ton of food per day. A third-tier star-lord's god-fiend body, one hundred meters tall and weighing a hundred thousand tons, expends the energy of one spirit stone each day through ordinary movement, three spirit stones to maintain basic cultivation, and a single major battle can consume energy comparable to dozens of spirit stones. Foundation-Building cultivators consume twice that amount." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The Golden Core expert continued calmly, "We Golden Core cultivators possess inherently unstable internal structures. Merely maintaining our baseline state costs ten thousand spirit stones per day. If we take action, we must circulate our Golden Core. Setting aside the risk of loss of control, do you know how many spirit stones are consumed with that single rise and fall?"

"I do," Li Qingshan answered solemnly. "At least a million."

"Then, is he worth it?"

"He is," Li Qingshan replied. He bowed deeply. "Martial Uncle, I ask to take action."

Li Hanqiu’s gaze lingered for a moment on the sect master who had worked diligently for eighty years without the slightest slack. He did not ask about the process. He did not ask for reasons. He uttered only one word. "Good."

***

Meanwhile, within the core palace of Longxiang City, everyone present, including city lord Luo Yunhai, Qin Yi, and the other star lords assigned to protect Yaoguang, stared at the screen in silence, watching the Sky Patrol Warship remain utterly unscathed amid countless sword lights and spells.

Every face bore the same expression of unwillingness and bone-deep helplessness. Seventeen years ago, when the Infinite Star Palace annihilated the Quicksand Sect, the entire Nine Cauldrons Sect had been shaken.

The overwhelming force displayed in that battle had been enough to crush the Quicksand Sect like dry weeds, forcing everyone to acknowledge the Infinite Star Palace’s terrifying strength. Even the Northern Alliance, led by the immensely powerful Thousand-Beast Sect, had lost the will to continue opposing the Infinite Star Palace and had ultimately disintegrated.

As for the Nine Cauldrons Sect... In truth, its strength was not much different from that of the Quicksand Sect back then. Although the Nine Cauldrons Sect had pressed forward aggressively over the past decade, carried out sweeping reforms, and focused heavily on developing the psyche-cultivation path... What more could be accomplished in just a decade?

Now, the arrival of this single Sky Patrol Warship of the Infinite Star Palace seemed to confirm their fears. It truly meant nothing. And this was only one warship. If the Infinite Star Palace mobilized its entire fleet, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s fate would likely mirror that of the Quicksand Sect seventeen years earlier, swept away like fallen leaves before an autumn gale.

The palace fell into dead silence. No one spoke. It was as though they no longer even had the strength of will to open their mouths.

Qin Yi was like this, and so was Zi Qiangwei, the array master, artifact-refinement master, and primordial psyche cultivator who was likewise under special protection.

"So..." Yaoguang looked at the Sky Patrol Warship drawing ever closer on the screen. "So many people attacking together, and none can do anything to this warship at all?"

No one answered. Some even shot him an irritated glance, their expressions practically saying, "Can't you see?"

After a long silence, Zi Qiangwei finally spoke, partly to spare Yaoguang’s dignity. "It isn’t that our cultivators are too weak. It’s that the Sky Patrol Warship’s defenses are too strong. Our sword cultivators responsible for breaking through hadn't even reached the vicinity of the warship before their flying swords, and the sword arrays formed by those swords, were suppressed."

Her voice grew heavy. "You should be able to tell. Our primordial psyche cultivators’ psychic thoughts were blocked outright. Moreover, after blocking us, the enemy still had enough strength to guide their sword cultivators to strike at the weak points of our sword arrays, effortlessly intercepting them."

"Then, if our primordial psyche cultivators can break through the enemy’s psychic-thought defenses and guide our sword cultivators to attack the Sky Patrol Warship’s main body, can we shatter its defensive array?"

"Yes!" Zi Qiangwei answered firmly. "Our sword cultivators’ flying swords may be inferior to theirs, but attacking has always been easier than defending. The Sky Patrol Warship is far too large to evade like a sword cultivator. It can only endure head-on. If our primordial psyche cultivators truly manage to guide the sword cultivators’ attacks past the Infinite Star Palace sword cultivators’ defenses and strike the warship itself, then no matter how strong its defensive array is, it won’t withstand many rounds..."

She paused briefly. "At the very least... before Longxiang City’s defensive array is destroyed, we can inflict real damage on the warship’s core."

"That will be enough," Yaoguang said calmly.

He turned to Qin Yi. "Contact Sect Master Zhao. Have all sword cultivators and all primordial psyche cultivators return to Longxiang City!"

"They’re already on their way back," Qin Yi replied. "At this point, only by relying on Longxiang City’s defensive array, which is even sturdier than Nine Heavens City’s, can we hold out a little longer under the Sky Patrol Warship’s assault..."

"Good!" Yaoguang nodded. "Connect me to Sect Master Zhao. I need to speak with him."

"Sect Master Zhao is probably overwhelmed right now..." someone reminded him tactfully.

"Perhaps I have a way to drive this Sky Patrol Warship back," Yaoguang said.

The moment those words fell, everyone turned to him in unison, their eyes filled with shock. In the end, the youngest among them, Zi Qiangwei, could not help but speak first. "Chief Yaoguang, don’t joke. Your attainments in artifact refining are indeed extraordinary, but you’re not even a great cultivator. How could you possibly—"

"Contact Sect Master Zhao," Yaoguang repeated.

Qin Yi looked at him. Like Zi Qiangwei, he could not imagine what method Yaoguang could rely on to accomplish something that all the experts of the Nine Heavens Domain still could not achieve even while working together. Yet, considering Yaoguang’s standing and the fact that no one else had any workable solution, in the end he could only give a nod.

It was a desperate attempt, but the situation was already hopeless. He immediately contacted Zhao Siliang. Beside him, Zi Qiangwei studied Yaoguang’s expression, uncertainty rising in her voice. "You... really have a way?"

"We’ll try," Yaoguang said, staring at the Sky Patrol Warship on the screen as it loomed like a dark cloud pressing down.

The feeling was unbearable, so suffocating that it made breathing difficult. Therefore...

"I am Zhao Siliang." Very soon, a projection appeared from the device in Qin Yi’s hand.

Before Qin Yi could speak, Yaoguang had already stepped forward and spoken first. "I need command authority over all primordial psyche cultivators and all Foundation Building sword cultivators."

"You?!"

"Yes!" Yaoguang nodded slightly. "Let me command them. Perhaps I can repel this Sky Patrol Warship."

Zhao Siliang looked at Yaoguang and fell silent. Yaoguang did not speak either. Yet behind him, a phantom figure had already manifested.

"What is that?!" The sudden change shocked not only Zhao Siliang but also Qin Yi, Zi Qiangwei, and Luo Yunhai.

"Primordial psyche?!"

"You broke through to the Primordial Psyche Realm?"

"Well, you do have a Psyche-Transforming Pill. By the timing, you should have broken through long ago. Advancing at this moment... is actually later than we expected." A trace of joy appeared in their eyes.

They were happy for Yaoguang’s breakthrough to the Primordial Psyche Realm, but not overly surprised. This scene was entirely within expectations. Yet the joy lasted only a moment before their gazes dimmed again.

The more outstanding Yaoguang proved himself to be, the more tragic it would be for the Nine Cauldrons Sect if he were to fall in this catastrophe. After all, the Infinite Star Palace stood at their gates.

"Wait!" Luo Yunhai seemed to sense something and suddenly cried out. "Your primordial psyche..."

At his exclamation, the others, who had been sinking into gloom, quickly noticed the anomaly as well. After Yaoguang’s primordial psyche manifested, it grew visibly more solid by the second, becoming clearer and clearer, to the point that it was hard to tell whether it was a primordial psyche or an energy body condensed using his own form as a template.

There was only one explanation for such a phenomenon. Yaoguang’s attainments in psyche refinement were extremely high, and they were all released at once!

Judging solely from how clear and solid this primordial psyche was, they could tell that—if Yaoguang took some time to prepare—he could likely cross all the Blazing Solar Lightning tribulations in one go and step straight into the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer.

"Zi Qiangwei should have noticed while staying at the Purple Firmament Institute," Yaoguang said as he looked at Zhao Siliang on the screen. "I have a talent that can draw upon all the refiners’ psychic thoughts and spiritual consciousness within the Purple Firmament Institute, accelerating their work efficiency."

He paused, his gaze steady. "But this talent isn’t only useful for refiners. It works on all primordial psyche cultivators and all Foundation-Building cultivators as well."

There was a resolute calm in his tone, like one who had shattered his retreat. "So... hand over command of all primordial psyche and Foundation Building cultivators to me. I will lead them and break this Sky Patrol Warship."