Xiang Yu summoned his Abyssal Void Flame, carefully examining it for changes after its advancement to fifth grade. At first glance, not much seemed different, except for one striking detail—the tiny white sparks that used to dance within the dark flame had completely vanished. Now, only absolute darkness remained, swirling ominously above his palm. Despite the flame's advancement, he was still uncertain about how to properly harness its power.
A sudden inspiration struck him. Focusing his concentration intensely on the flame, Xiang Yu felt his consciousness instantly transfer into the void dimension within. The familiar fluffy creature still floated there, wrapped in its dark, smoke-like fur—but just like before, it remained unresponsive to his presence. He had hoped the upgrade might have awakened the mysterious entity, but that wasn't the case. Xiang Yu wasn't particularly troubled by this; he'd unravel the flame's secrets eventually, as he did with all things.
According to his usual schedule, this would be the time for mind cultivation. But with his Mind attribute already past the halfway point to Level 5, continuing now would be inefficient. Besides, his body still ached tremendously from the bloodline conflict he'd endured. Since his alchemy skills had advanced, he decided another use for this time—creating more pills to accelerate his recovery. Although his body was recovering naturally, he still felt that it was quite slow.
Rising from the spirit spring, Xiang Yu quickly dressed himself. He walked over to inspect the herbs he had planted before. He was pleased to see tiny sprouts already emerging from the soil. Carefully scooping some of the spirit water into a container, he irrigated the young plants. He reasoned that these low-level herbs would flourish rapidly when nourished by the spirit vein's energy.
His attention then shifted to the mature medicinal plants growing elsewhere in the cavern. He moved through them, harvesting specific varieties needed for eighth-grade healing pills. While his martial aunt's supply was generous, it lacked these particular ingredients. But fortunately the spirit vein garden contained them in abundance. After gathering a substantial batch, he retrieved his alchemy furnace and prepared to begin the refinement process.
Rather than jumping directly to the eighth-grade pills, Xiang Yu started with the familiar ninth-grade ones he'd practiced earlier. He wanted to confirm whether his advancement to eighth-grade alchemist had improved his efficiency with lower-grade pills. As expected, the results were impressive—his refinement speed had nearly doubled, and his success rate for ninth-grade pills had soared to sixty percent, twice his previous achievement.
Encouraged by this improvement, Xiang Yu proceeded to his true objective—crafting eighth-grade healing pills. His first attempt succeeded perfectly, filling him with satisfaction. However, his second attempt ended in failure. After the humbling experience, he continued refining, producing several more successful pills despite occasional failures. His overall success rate hovered around thirty percent just like before.
From what he understood, success rates increased with each professional breakthrough, though he lacked sufficient data to determine the exact percentage improvement. Additionally, a cultivator's base success rate before any improvements depended largely on their enlightenment level. With his Superior Enlightenment, Xiang Yu's base rate started at thirty percent. Those with lower enlightenment would naturally have significantly reduced chances of success.
Xiang Yu went on a pill refining spree, producing nearly two hundred eighth-grade healing pills. Though not entirely satisfied with this quantity, he decided to pause his production. Continuing would consume too many resources. Since he didn't believe he could finish all those pills, he decided that it was better to wait until his next advancement. When he breaks through again, his success rate would increase and he would waste far less material.
He carefully stored the precious pills in his spatial ring. Unlike his other creations, these were solely for his personal use—at least until producing them became more efficient. He had invested substantial resources in their creation, and while the spirit vein still contained abundant materials, they required considerable time to mature fully so it was better to use them sparingly. With this in mind, he decided to not refine any more eighth grade pills.
After consuming several pills, Xiang Yu felt his body recover almost completely, the lingering pain from the bloodline conflict fading rapidly. Noting that dawn was still several hours away, he decided to make productive use of his remaining time by refining more ninth-grade pills for the sect.
...
By sunrise, Xiang Yu had refined almost a thousand pills. "These should be enough," he thought, surveying his work with satisfaction. Despite working through the night, he felt no desire to rest. Instead, he immediately shifted his focus to formation drawing and blacksmithing.
His advancement to eighth-grade blacksmith opened exciting new possibilities. In the cultivation world's hierarchy of treasures, items were classified as common, magical, spiritual, and divine—each with its own low, mid, and high tiers. Upon reaching ninth-grade blacksmithing, a craftsman could refine common-grade treasures. At eighth-grade, one could produce up to mid-tier magical treasures, while seventh-grade masters could craft high-tier ones. The next three grades enabled the creation of spiritual treasures, and only the most exceptional blacksmiths could forge divine-level items.
Xiang Yu wasted no time and dove eagerly into the refinement process. He quickly discovered that weapon crafting offered a significantly higher success rate than pill refining. Unlike alchemy's delicate processes where the slightest interference could ruin hours of work, weapon refinement dealt with properties that Xiang Yu found much easier to control.
Temperature control—arguably the most important aspect—was no challenge thanks to his upgraded Abyssal Void Flame. He could now adjust his flame's heat with precision down to decimal points, maintaining perfect forging conditions throughout the process. His extensive cooking practice had also honed his qi emission to remarkable levels, allowing him to infuse exactly the right amount of energy into each weapon to maximize its potential.
With these advantages, Xiang Yu went on a weapon-crafting spree. He carefully shaped metal after metal, transforming raw materials into hundreds of low and mid-level magical weapons. The pile of completed items grew steadily: swords with edges that could cut through stone without dulling, daggers that retained perfect balance regardless of how they were held, and perfectly balanced axes. He continued this frenzy until his material supplies finally ran out.
Glancing at his system clock, Xiang Yu noticed it was already time for lunch. He reluctantly concluded his blacksmithing session and made his way to the kitchen to prepare a meal for his master and potentially the others, should they return.
"Sigh, being a single father is really hard," Xiang Yu complained dramatically as he stirred the fragrant broth. "I work day and night and still have to cook for the kids."
"Who are you calling a kid?" Elder Guo's indignant voice came suddenly from behind him.
Xiang Yu turned around to find his master fixing him with a disapproving look.
"Master! Did you succeed?" Xiang Yu asked, deliberately ignoring Elder Guo's previous question.
"Of course I succeeded. Who do you take me for?" Elder Guo replied, his chin lifting with pride despite his weakened state.
"As expected of the master," Xiang Yu said with an exaggerated bow.
"Stop trying to change the topic. I heard—" Elder Guo began, but Xiang Yu swiftly cut him off.
"Master, what do you mean? You must be growing old if you're hearing things," Xiang Yu said smoothly, guiding his master to sit down.
"You brat! You think—" Elder Guo's retort was interrupted by the sudden arrival of two figures descending from the sky.
Li Yao and Elder Huang landed gracefully together, their robes fluttering gently in the breeze.
"Hmph, forget it," Elder Guo muttered, his demeanor shifting subtly at the sight of Elder Huang.
"Senior brother..." both Elder Huang and Li Yao spoke simultaneously. They exchanged awkward glances.
Xiang Yu couldn't suppress a chuckle at the scene unfolding before him.
"Everyone, come and sit. I've just finished cooking," he invited, gesturing toward the table where steaming dishes awaited.
The two women nodded and joined Elder Guo at the table, settling into their seats.
"Senior brother, did you succeed? I was really worried about you," Elder Huang said, her hand reaching toward Elder Guo's stomach.
Elder Guo caught her hand mid-movement, his reflexes still sharp despite his recent ordeal. "What are you doing?" he asked, his tone gruff but not unkind.
A blush crept across Elder Huang's cheeks. "Checking your cultivation," she explained, not meeting his eyes.
"Can't you sense it?" Elder Guo challenged, one eyebrow raised.
"Of course I can," she replied quickly, "but how can I be sure something didn't go wrong? Just let me check." Her hand pushed forward with gentle insistence.
But Elder Guo wasn't to be taken lightly. Even though he had lost his cultivation, his body refining level still surpassed hers, allowing him to easily deflect her advance.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, old man," Elder Huang said, spiritual qi beginning to gather around her hand.
Suddenly aware of the silence, she glanced around and noticed Li Yao and Xiang Yu watching them intently. Embarrassment flooded her face as she quickly withdrew her hand.
"Well, maybe we should eat first," she spoke, composing herself. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Li Yao observed the interaction thoughtfully. Martial Aunt and Master really had a nice relationship, she reflected. Her gaze drifted to Xiang Yu, wondering if they would share such comfortable familiarity when they grew old together.
Xiang Yu caught her staring and returned a confused expression. "What's this girl up to now?" he thought to himself. "Why is she looking at me like that? Did I offend her somehow?"
After finishing the meal, Li Yao and Elder Huang prepared to return to their duties when Xiang Yu's voice stopped them.
"Senior brother?" Li Yao turned, hope flickering in her eyes that perhaps Xiang Yu was reluctant to part with her.
"Here, take this," he said, extending a spatial ring toward her.
Her expectant expression crumbled into disappointment. "Hmph, what did I expect?" she thought bitterly, though her voice remained steady. "What is this?" she asked aloud.
"Well, since Martial Aunt gave me too many resources, I felt that I should give back to the sect," Xiang Yu explained. "They're just some stuff I made randomly, so they might not be all that useful," he added modestly.
Internally, his thoughts ran contrary to his humble words. "Randomly? Hmph! If you knew how hard I worked for these..."
When Elder Huang heard this, she quickly snatched the spatial ring from Li Yao's hand. "You made these?" she asked incredulously as she opened the ring, causing its contents to spill out onto the ground. Her eyes widened as she surveyed the items. "This... this is..."
...
Elder Huang and the others stared in stunned silence at the items Xiang Yu had claimed to make casually. Their expressions shifted from disbelief to awe as they examined each piece carefully.
"You—you actually made these?" Elder Huang spoke in disbelief.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Xiang Yu asked nervously, wondering if he had done something wrong.
"No. This is really good. Extremely good," she said emphatically. She started inspecting each item with growing excitement. Analyzing the items with her appraiser profession.
"Sect Master, with these, the sect should be able to recover, no, surpass our previous combat power," she said, so excited that she unconsciously slipped into formal address.
"Is this true?" Li Yao asked, leaning forward to examine the scattered treasures with interest.
"Very true," Elder Huang nodded vigorously, her fingers dancing over the neatly organized pills. "Qi condensation pills, healing pills, qi circulation, strengthening—there are so many of them!" Her voice rose with each category she identified.
Li Yao nodded thoughtfully. It was indeed true that these resources could restore their sect's strength. What the Azure Cloud Sword Sect lacked most were precisely these kinds of resources.
Without a personal alchemist, they had been forced to rely on external suppliers who, sensing the sect's weakened state after the attack, had begun price-gouging them mercilessly. She had been seriously contemplating whether she would need to resort to robbery to secure what they needed. To think her senior brother had already solved this crisis without her knowledge!
When the Empress caught Li Yao's thoughts about considering robbery, she sighed deeply within the spiritual sea. "What have I gotten myself into?" she lamented to herself.
"And that's not all!" Elder Huang continued excitedly, scooping up another batch of items. This time she displayed an array of carefully inscribed talismans. "These are eighth-grade talismans, all for combat," she explained. "And these formations as well," she added, demonstrating several formation disks with intricate patterns etched into their surfaces.
Her excitement climbed further as she reached for the weapons portion of Xiang Yu's contribution. "And that's not even the best part yet," she declared, lifting a random sword. "Look at this!"
"What's this?" Li Yao tilted her head. Li Yao was inexperienced and couldn't distinguish the weapon quality at a glance so she was confused.
"Ah, this is..." Elder Guo moved with surprising speed, snatching the sword from Elder Huang's grasp. He examined it carefully, his eyes widening as he recognized its true value. "A mid-level magical weapon," he pronounced, disbelief coloring his voice.
Had once dabbled in blacksmithing as a hobby, hoping to forge weapons for the sect. Yet he had never managed to create anything beyond common gear. The idea that Xiang Yu could forge magical weapons after mere days of training seemed impossible.
"What, a magical weapon?" Even Li Yao couldn't hide her surprise.
For a low-level sect like the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, even most elders didn't possess more than two magical weapons. The Sect Leader had been the only one who owned a spiritual weapon, and it wasn't even a genuine spiritual weapon but a damaged one. Xiang Yu providing so many magical weapons represented a tremendous windfall.
Items could dramatically change the outcome of battle—just as Xiang Yu himself, merely at Qi Gathering realm, had managed to kill a Core Formation expert through clever use of talismans. With these magical weapons, they could not only arm their forces against the looming threat of the Wuming Cult, but also trade some to acquire other essential resources.
Li Yao's expression suddenly grew solemn, she straightened her posture, assuming the authority of her position as Sect Master.
"Senior brother..." she began, then paused, her tone shifting to something more formal. "No! Xiang Yu, from now on, you are the Grand Elder of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect," she declared.
...