Inside his room, Wang Jianqiang sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his soul sea.
Within that boundless, empty expanse, a light curtain shimmered into existence. His eyes fell upon his attribute panel.
In recent days, his expenditure of cultivation points had been limited, and his savings had grown considerably—now totaling three hundred and fifty-eight.
With a single thought, the attribute panel shifted, revealing the auxiliary cultivation page.
"Alchemy: Tier One, High-Grade Alchemist""Smithing: Unranked"
His focus landed upon Smithing. A single flicker of will, and sixty cultivation points poured into it.
Sixty years of hard-earned experience condensed in an instant. His Smithing cultivation leapt from unranked all the way to Tier One, High-Grade.
Withdrawing his consciousness from the soul sea, he turned his palm, drawing out a jade slip from his storage pouch.
As his mind concentrated upon the slip, the system's familiar chime rang in his ears.
"Ding. Inferior blueprint detected. Optimizing and upgrading requires 20 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Yes."
"Ding. Water-Moon Skirt blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to Perfect Water-Moon Skirt blueprint."
Setting the newly perfected blueprint aside, he produced three more slips.
"Ding. Inferior blueprint detected. Optimization requires 20 cultivation points. Proceed?""Ding. Inferior blueprint detected. Optimization requires 20 cultivation points. Proceed?""Ding. Inferior blueprint detected. Optimization requires 20 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Yes."
"Ding. Violet-Jade Shoes blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to Perfect Violet-Jade Shoes blueprint.""Ding. Mystic-Water Ring blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to Perfect Mystic-Water Ring blueprint.""Ding. Cloud-Water Frostsword blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to Perfect Cloud-Water Frostsword blueprint."
With the four medium-grade blueprints perfected, he drew out the sole high-grade blueprint in his possession—the Lesser Thousand-Mountain Seal.
"Ding. Inferior blueprint detected. Optimization requires 30 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Yes."
"Ding. Lesser Thousand-Mountain Seal blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to Perfect Lesser Thousand-Mountain Seal blueprint."
With all his blueprints perfected, Wang Jianqiang retrieved his alchemy furnace—repurposed now for forging—and began his work.
Thanks to the system's guaranteed success rate, his very first attempt yielded a completed artifact.
To his delight, the act of forging also granted him cultivation points.
Motivation surged.
In just three days, he had crafted four Perfect-grade medium artifacts and one high-grade artifact.
Calling Wang Yuyao to his side, he presented them all to her as gifts.
Her joy was beyond words, her favorability soaring once more—this time leaping to ninety-nine.
Just one step away from the peak.
The unexpected surprise left Wang Jianqiang both elated and bemused.
Stuck at ninety-nine… such miserly trickery. Truly shameful.
As Yuyao left happily to refine her new treasures, he returned once more to secluded cultivation.
Time flowed swiftly.
With the grand competition drawing near, disciples from missions abroad and long-closed retreats began to emerge.
The outer sect grew lively, bustling with anticipation.
At last, the day arrived.
Ending his seclusion, Wang Jianqiang made his way to the massive plaza where the competition would be held.
Crowds thronged the streets—some competitors nervous and hopeful, others, like himself, there merely to watch.
Soon, the plaza loomed before him, vast enough to hold tens of thousands.
Ten colossal arenas, each a hundred zhang tall, rose proudly from the earth, dividing the square in two.
Rows upon rows of seats lined either side.
Finding a spot in the spectators' area, Wang Jianqiang settled in.
Half an hour later, every seat was filled, a sea of heads stretching endlessly.
Whoosh!
Three figures suddenly appeared above the plaza, their overwhelming auras sweeping across the crowd. Instantly, the noisy square fell silent.
Wang Jianqiang's gaze flicked over them, information flooding his mind.
"Two early Core Formation… and one at mid Core Formation!"
"As expected of a grand sect event—three inner sect elders at once."
As he marveled, the mid-stage elder spoke.
"I am Yun Zhongque, the overseer of this competition."
With a wave of his palm, countless glowing spheres appeared, hovering in the air.
"Each contains a numbered token. There are 1,880 in total, equal to the number of contestants. Those who draw matching numbers will be paired this round."
"Begin the draw."
At his command, silhouettes shot skyward, each seizing a sphere.
Moments later, all contestants bore their tokens.
Among them, Wang Jianqiang spotted Wang Yuyao, Su Yutong, and even Chen Jiaojiao with her partner, Niu Shouren.
What surprised him most was Su Yutong's cultivation—she had already reached the peak of Qi Refining.
That speed… unusual.
But then he recalled how many Perfect Cloud-Mist Pills he had sold to the Outer Affairs Hall. If she had been determined, acquiring them would not have been difficult.
So she picked up a bargain.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the stage.
"Numbers one through ten, step onto arenas one through ten."
Yun Zhongque's voice echoed.
Twenty figures ascended. Among them—Wang Yuyao.
His eyes sharpened, settling upon Arena Three.
Her opponent: a rugged middle-aged man at Qi Refining, ninth layer. Respectable, but hardly among the elite.
"The matches begin."
With those words, the battles erupted across all ten platforms.
On Arena Three, Yuyao and her opponent clashed.
She wielded the Perfect Cloud-Water Frostsword, its edge gleaming with icy brilliance. Her foe had no chance to counter.
In moments, she emerged victorious.
Wang Jianqiang shook his head.
Though she seemed dominant, her advantage came entirely from superior cultivation and weaponry.
With only a low-grade artifact, her opponent never stood a chance.
But her foundations were weak.
Without her sword, even with higher cultivation, defeating him would have been difficult.
He chuckled softly to himself.
Half a year ago, Yuyao had only been at Qi Refining, sixth layer. With Perfect pills, her cultivation had soared to the peak. But her mastery of spells remained at the level of the sixth layer.
Her flaws were understandable.
He, however, had no such concerns—having never learned any combat techniques at all.
The thought made him wince.
With the Cold-Pool Secret Realm ahead, I should probably learn some spells of my own…