The communication ended.
Lu Li put away the jade pendant.
His feelings were complicated.
In the space of a year, he had entered Late Qi Refining, while the nation had made a major breakthrough in cultivation research.
It could even begin industrial artifact refining.
As for the products it refined...
"Though this armor is only first-tier, low-grade,"
"it was entirely refined by machines, controlled with precise program parameters."
"In other words, as long as there are enough materials, it's as though I have countless artifact refiners behind me, refining in bulk!"
The significance behind this armor was enormous.
The nation was becoming a greater and greater help to him.
Lu Li scarcely dared imagine it.
If he really could send back a Spirit Vein and abundant resources someday,
what a terrifying sight Great Xia would present.
"Phew..."
"I can't rush the matter of the Spirit Vein. It's too far out of reach for me right now."
"But... I really can't neglect the Foundation Establishment Pill. Cultivators here often have to struggle for more than a decade to get one."
"They even have to draw on the efforts of generations of family members or masters and disciples."
"I don't have a single relative in this world. I really do need to start planning early."
"It would be bad if I missed the best opportunity..."
A cultivator who succeeded in Foundation Establishment became a True Person, lived over two hundred and twenty years, and possessed formidable magic power.
For every Qi Refinement cultivator, the Foundation Establishment Pill was like a towering mountain.
Even Xu Xiong, with a Foundation Establishment True Person behind him, needed both master and disciple to toil for years before they could hope to obtain a single Foundation Establishment Pill.
Let alone Lu Li.
"Looking at it that way... taking on a disciple, as Director Li suggested, would indeed help me."
"But as for who to take..."
Lu Li frowned slightly.
Taking on a disciple was a major affair in the cultivation world. If one took a disciple with a good temperament and talent, it was no different from hitting the jackpot.
Even one's own cultivation could hope to advance further.
But taking in someone with poor aptitude and a lazy, depraved nature was asking for trouble.
It would sever one's own Dao Path.
"Although the Azure Pool Sect places no restrictions on taking disciples, and even outer sect disciples can take them,"
"good seedlings are basically something you can only stumble upon, not seek out."
"For now, I can only keep an eye out."
His thoughts turning, Lu Li carefully read the strategic report from beginning to end.
He spent a particularly long time reading about his family's recent circumstances.
Only then did he clarify his main objectives for the near future once more.
They were still to keep improving his artifact-refining skills, prepare for the Foundation Establishment Pill, watch for a potential disciple, and... test the armor!
Speaking of the armor, Lu Li could not help marveling at the nation's aesthetic sense as he looked at it.
"Whatever else one might say, this armor really does look beautiful."
"Now, let's see how well it works."
Lu Li beckoned with a hand, and the armor settled over him.
The streamlined armor wrapped snugly around his upper body.
Pale-blue artifact patterns flickered in and out of sight.
The silver-white material radiated a sense of technological power.
The next second,
the stone door of the cave abode swung wide, and Lu Li flew out on his sword.
He headed for the back mountain to test the armor's performance.
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Junior Brother Lu!"
Lu Li turned around and saw that it was Xu Xiong.
Before Xu Xiong could explain why he had come, his eyes were drawn to the streamlined armor on Lu Li's body, with its technological beauty.
"Th-this is armor?"
"That design looks incredible! Junior brother... your artifact-refining skills are simply amazing!"
Lu Li laughed it off.
"You flatter me, senior brother. It was just a sudden inspiration."
"How is that just a sudden inspiration? I'd say you're almost at the level of a master artifact refiner!"
Xu Xiong praised him sincerely, then scratched his head in frustration.
"Junior brother, how did you learn to do it? Why don't you teach me too?"
Though Xu Xiong was tall and rugged, his temperament was somewhat like Lu Li's.
Over the past year, the two had attended lessons and studied artifact refining together.
With their compatible temperaments, they had grown closer and become among the few close friends in the outer sect who could confide in each other.
Lu Li laughed at his words and said, half joking and half serious,
"It's simple enough. Practice makes perfect."
"By the way, judging by where you're headed, senior brother... did you come especially to see me?"
His cave abode was in a remote, isolated part of the outer sect.
If Xu Xiong had appeared here, nine times out of ten he had come looking for him.
Sure enough,
Xu Xiong nodded. The joy on his face slowly faded, leaving a trace of helplessness.
"Junior Brother Lu, I came to say goodbye..."
"Goodbye?"
"That's right. I'm at Qi Refining Ninth Layer now, and Foundation Establishment is just ahead. Master says my Dao heart isn't firm, and my chances of success are less than thirty percent..."
"So... he's sending me out of the sect to temper myself."
"Leaving the sect to temper yourself..."
Lu Li had known Xu Xiong for a year and had learned something of his past.
Because Xu Xiong had witnessed his own father being killed outside the sect as a child, he was extremely reluctant to leave the sect.
But with such a state of mind, he would probably struggle to succeed even with a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Master Wu treated him like his own son and would never stand by and watch Xu Xiong stop here.
Perhaps he too had steeled his heart and forced him to go out and temper himself...
"Then... when are you leaving, senior brother?"
"Today."
"How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know... Master said I should come back when I feel I'm about ready to attempt Foundation Establishment."
Hearing that, Lu Li fell briefly silent and said no more.
A light flashed in his hand.
Three pitch-black metal spheres the size of fists appeared, giving off faint wisps of Spiritual Qi and the scent of smoke and fire.
"Senior brother, these are Spirit Fire Grenades I refined in my spare time. Take them to protect yourself."
"They're very easy to use. You only need to activate them with spiritual power a few breaths in advance."
"As for their power... well, if a Late Qi Refining cultivator is caught off guard, he'll be gravely injured if not killed."
"Spirit Fire Grenades?!"
Xu Xiong was stunned. He knew Lu Li had a talent for artifact refining
and occasionally came up with unusual ideas,
but he had not expected him to be able to refine such wondrous objects.
Being able to injure someone in Late Qi Refining... made them comparable to first-tier, high-grade talismans!
More importantly,
"These things look completely unremarkable... yet they have such power."
"If I use them without warning, they'll surely catch an enemy off guard..."
At that thought, Xu Xiong was deeply moved and did not refuse.
Although Wu Changgeng had also prepared quite a few things for him to defend himself with, who would ever complain about feeling too safe?
He promptly put the three Spirit Fire Grenades into his Storage Bag.
"Thank you, junior brother. If I make it back alive and reach Foundation Establishment..."
"Someday... I'll surely repay you!"
Xu Xiong's words were sincere, his voice filled with emotion.
He gave Lu Li a tight hug.
Lu Li waved a hand, signaling that there was no need for that.
"Go on, senior brother. Just take care on the road."
"Mm. In that case, junior brother... farewell!"
"Farewell!"
The two returned each other's salute, and Xu Xiong summoned his flying sword and shot away.
Leaving the sect to temper oneself was no game, much less a matter of killing monsters to level up.
To temper his Dao heart, Xu Xiong would surely have to leave the Azure Pool Sect's territory and venture beyond the three commanderies.
And beyond the three commanderies...
Rogue Cultivators, Bandit Cultivators, Evil Cultivators, Demon Beasts-though they might not be everywhere, murderous intent lurked on all sides.
Watching Xu Xiong's departing back, Lu Li fell briefly silent, unsure whether he would ever see this senior brother again.
"Never mind. On the path of cultivation, meetings and partings are unpredictable."
"As for now... I'd better take on more artifact-refining orders and save up some Spirit Stones."