Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

With his hands behind his back, Li Yao paced about unhurriedly before asking, “A hundred years ago, before I advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage, I did not know much about the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty. The Purple Pole Sword Sect claims to be the best sword sect in the world. So, the disciples in your sect surely all practice flying sword arts, right?”

It was almost a meaningless question. Would the disciples of a sect whose name was ‘Purple Pole Sword Sect’ train themselves with the arts of rods and sticks?

Ling Lanyin, however, did not dare to show any derision in front of the old monster. She replied dutifully, “You’re right, Master. The disciples of the Purple Pole Sword Sect are mostly focused on flying swords. Some of them use sabers and spears as their magical equipment, too. In general, all the weapons are regular ones. Few of them domesticate insects and beasts or forge flags as weapons like the Cultivators in the Southland of Sorcerers do.

“The Purple Pole Sword Sect has a hundred thousand disciples and five thousand empyreal swordsmen that are all top experts whose sword auras could reach the sky. There are also seven… six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators. Their skills are even more incredible.”

Ling Lanyin had almost said that there were seven Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the Purple Pole Sword Sect, but then she realized that ‘Thunderous Straight Swordsman’ Lou Chongxiao, one of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, had already passed away. She could not help but feel depressed, and her tone became rather flat.

“Of them—”

Fearing that the old monster would underestimate her sect, she bit her lip and stressed, “My senior uncle Yan Liren has reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage. He is so crazy about swords art that he is known as the ‘Sword Maniac’ by the Cultivators. He is one of the well-acknowledged ‘Three Saints’. He can frighten a troop of a million soldiers with just himself and his sword!

“Peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, Yan Liren, the Sword Maniac…” Li Yao chewed on the name slowly. Putting it aside for a moment, he asked, “Alright, since the Purple Pole Sword Sect has a hundred thousand disciples and five thousand empyreal swordsmen, and you certainly have even more vassal families, where do your flying swords come from when there is such a high demand? Do you forge them yourselves, or do you purchase them elsewhere?”

“We forge them ourselves.” It was not a secret, so Ling Lanyin replied truthfully, “The Purple Pole Sword Sect, as the best sword sect in the world, has a very high demand for swords and sabers. Many flying swords are declared to be total-losses on a daily basis just because of the disciples’ training. How can we purchase them elsewhere?

“The Purple Pole Sword Sect boasts the ‘Hundred Blade Mountain’, which is an intersection of the mother lodes in the world. Thousands of rare materials are stored inside the mines. Countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are excavated every year!

“Also, within the territory of the Purple Pole Sword Sect, there are nine springs that contain abundant spiritual energy and many amazing materials. With the spring water, and the undying, eccentric fire deep inside the Hundred Blade Mountain, we are able to forge unparalleled weapons!

“Furthermore, the Purple Pole Sword Sect has collected the notes of the predecessors for hundreds of years. Through the traces on the notes, we have excavated a lot of the relics that belonged to the great swordsmen of the past. We have retrieved many marvelous weapons of the ancient era. The experts in the Nascent Soul Stage often use those treasures as their weapons!”

Li Yao’s eyes suddenly shone. “Therefore, the Purple Pole Sword Sect certainly boasts a very spacious place for refining, and you must have a reserve of many rarely-seen materials, right?”

Ling Lanyin nodded. “Yes.”

It was a fact that everybody knew. Ling Lanyin could not lie about that.

“Alright.” Li Yao nodded and said straightforwardly, “There’s no need for me to hide the truth from you. I have indeed experienced certain fortuitous incidents in the past few decades before I reached the level I’m at right now.

“As for exactly what the fortuitous incidents are, you don’t need to know. It will do you no good if you know too much.

“Right now, I have grasped the most incredible arts, but I still need some convenient magical equipment and blades!”

Ling Lanyin’s eyes glittered. She said in a hurry, “The Purple Pole Sword Sect has the best magical equipment and blades!”

Li Yao shook his hands and said, “The magical equipment I use is deeply connected with my essential techniques, and I have to forge them on my own. However, the Southland of Sorcerers is too far-flung with barely any resources. The metal materials here are particularly rare and of an astoundingly low quality. There are no appropriate springs, fire, and furnaces for refining, either!

“Since the Purple Pole Sword Sect has everything I need, I am wondering if I can rent a place for refining from the Purple Pole Sword Sect and borrow your springs, fire, metal resources, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, which are needed for my magical equipment. Is this against your rules?”

So, that was on the old monster’s mind. Ling Lanyin took a deep breath, and she replied in delight, “Absolutely not. We will all be honored by your presence!

“The flying swords produced by the Purple Pole Sword Sect are not just for the use of our disciples in the first place. Many of them are sold to other sects. Even several powerful troops of the court, including the imperial guards, mostly used the sabers and swords manufactured in the Purple Pole Sword Sect!

“Many high-level Cultivators think exactly the same as you do, Master. They are unwilling to utilize the magical equipment made by others, but their own sect is short of a place suitable for refining or certain critical materials. Then, it is not unusual for them to rent a place in the Purple Pole Sword Sect, buy the necessary materials, and build their own magical equipment!

“The Purple Pole Sword Sect has always had a high reputation in that regard. Not only can we offer the rarest materials in the world and the best place for refining, we even have the servants, blacksmiths, and weapon testers that you may need during the refining. Before, during, and after production, no information about what you are working on will ever be leaked out!

“Whatever magical equipment you have in mind, Master, it will be your best option to come to the Purple Pole Sword Sect. There isn’t a second sect that can surpass the Purple Pole Sword Sect in that regard!”

Li Yao nodded.

In fact, on his way there, he had basically figured out through eavesdropping that the ‘Purple Pole Sword Sect’ was the largest arms group of the Great Qian Dynasty and a super amalgamation of weapon businesses and mining businesses.

That was why he was patient enough to talk with Ling Lanyin for so long.

Li Yao was indeed in need of certain magical equipment, but it was the components of star beacons that he needed instead of flying swords for battle.

When Li Yao set off from the Heaven’s Origin Sector, he had brought a high-level star beacon and numerous backup components in the storage space of Spark.

However, countless accidents had occurred during the hundred years on his journey. He had wasted a lot of components on the star beacon to maintain Spark during his narrow escape from the ‘dual-star system’.

Furthermore, the thickness of the dark nebula and the weirdness of the cosmic dust there were far beyond his anticipation. Judging from the results of a few experimental transmissions, the signals did not travel very well inside the dark nebula.

Therefore, for safety reasons, Li Yao had to fully maintain and strengthen the star beacons to ensure that the signals were shot back to his hometown through four-dimensional space instantly.

Then, the components to make the space gate would be sent back to him and assembled by him in order to achieve the seamless connection between the two worlds.

The maintenance and the construction of the star beacons could be done in the satellites of the planet or even outer space.

But just as even the most experienced cook could not make food without ingredients, Li Yao had to prepare the components that he needed first.

It was refining in a real world instead of a virtual game. Throwing some minerals and expecting the product was impossible.

Li Yao had received pertinent training before he took off. He knew all the maintenance and strengthening plans. Technologically speaking, it was not a difficult task.

However, by rough estimation, there were a hundred and twenty-two materials that he did not carry or did not carry enough of in his Cosmos Rings.

Also, since he was going to refine the components through ancient techniques, the quality of the cooling liquids and the fire would directly affect the quality of the final product.

It was impossible for him to produce the components of the most precise, modern magical equipment in the jungles of the Southland of Sorcerers where there was absolutely no refining industry.

The Ancient Sages Sector did not have a sect whose sole business was refining such as the ‘Hundred Smelting Clan’.

Therefore, an amalgamation of weapon businesses and mining businesses such as the Purple Pole Sword Sect would be his best choice.

Also, Li Yao had taken one other thing into account.

The Purple Pole Sword Sect had become a prey that all other Cultivators coveted because of its relation to Wang Xi’s case.

It also might have something to do with the high profits of the weapon business, which aroused the greed of others.

However, the Purple Pole Sword Sect was a deeply-rooted super sect after all. There were six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, one of whom was even at the peak of it!

It was unlikely that they would wait to be killed.

Then, tensions and even conflicts would very likely break out between the Purple Pole Sword Sect and the other sects in the Ancient Sages Sector.

If Li Yao intended to rise to fame under the identity of ‘Master Spiritual Vulture’ in the shortest amount of time without raising any suspicion, so that he could make acquaintance with the core, high-level Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector, this would be the best starting point!

No matter which force he decided to cooperate with in the end, and even if he had other plans and rejected all other forces, he had to repair and strengthen the star beacons.

Therefore, he had to pay a visit to the Purple Pole Sword Sect to get access to the rare metal materials and produce a batch of appropriate components.

If he could observe a full outbreak of ‘Sword Maniac’ Yan Liren, a Cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, along the way, he would be able to have a chance to evaluate the top combat ability of the Ancient Sages Sector, which would be even better!

Then, Li Yao thought of something else. He asked, “You said just now that your senior uncle Yan Liren is one of the ‘Three Saints’ of the Great Qian Dynasty. Who are the other two?”

“My senior uncle Yan Liren’s sword arts are unparalleled in the world,” Ling Lanyin said. “He is the well-acknowledged ‘Sword Saint’!”

“Huh?” Li Yao interrupted her. “Just now, Han Yuantai told me that the Lead Eunuch Wang Xi’s sword arts were truly unparalleled in the world and that he was the best swordsman of the Ancient Sages Sector. Why is your story different?”