After hearing Zhao Ting's explanation, Xia Dong was left half amused and half bewildered. At last, he understood.
It turned out that this "Madam Xu" had the surname Xu and the given name Madam.
She was an eccentric old man with grizzled hair and beard, not the beautiful woman everyone instinctively imagined from the name.
"Brother, don't underestimate him because of his name." After explaining, Zhao Ting's expression turned serious. "The Heavenly Ingenuity Institute is a special institution in our Great You Dynasty that gathers talented cultivators from all over the land, each skilled in one of the many arts of cultivation. It has not only weapon refiners, but also alchemists, formation masters..."
The many arts of cultivation were a bottomless pit.
For most cultivators, simply meditating, refining qi, and advancing their cultivation already consumed a lifetime of effort. Where could they find any time left to study these other arts?
More importantly, mastering the many arts of cultivation required mountains of resources for endless trial and error before one could reap any rewards.
Ordinary cultivation sects simply could not afford that.
Especially over the past century, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had steadily declined, the various immortal sects had been struggling to keep themselves afloat. Their investment in these arts had become even more threadbare.
The Great You Dynasty, on the other hand, had the advantage of its vast organization and expansive territory. With its enormous secular government serving as a source of support, it could marshal vast quantities of mundane resources and basic spirit materials, giving it a unique advantage in this field.
"People die for wealth, and birds die for food. When the sects started offering less, many weapon refiners and alchemists from the immortal sects turned around and joined our Great You Dynasty's