Nuclear-powered Sword Immortal

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Appointment

Lingxiao City.

Although the Heavenly Gang Sect and Meteor Star Guard elite had attacked recently, causing widespread panic, Gu Jinlai had repelled the enemies one hundred li away. Thus, the flames of war did not directly spread to Lingxiao City itself. After a brief moment of chaos, things quickly calmed down.

Once Gu Jinlai returned, with his leadership, Lingxiao City swiftly returned to normal, and the citizens continued their lives as usual.

...

"Primordial Spirit Pill."

In the quiet room, Gu Jinlai felt the boiling spiritual essence within him and looked surprised.

He had just taken a Primordial Spirit Pill.

This elixir was specifically concocted to restore the spiritual essence of Heavenly Masters, containing a large amount of spiritual objects potent enough for direct absorption.

However, the process of a Heavenly Master absorbing the essence of a Primordial Spirit Pill resulted in significant dissipation of spiritual energy, making its restorative effects not immediately apparent.

Normally, it would take a Heavenly Master three or four Primordial Spirit Pills and three to four days to fully recover after depleting their Spiritual Sense.

But relying on the blazing efficiency of the "Great Sun" technique, Gu Jinlai distinctly felt that the spiritual essence in that Primordial Spirit Pill had hardly dissipated.

His refinement of one Primordial Spirit Pill was equivalent to five or six pills for others.

And the time required was just half a day.

"The price of Primordial Spirit Pills has fallen from being close to Nourishing God Pills a hundred years ago to now being on par with Qi Refining Pills at ten thousand taels..."

Gu Jinlai quickly calculated.

If a Heavenly Master did not supplement with Primordial Spirit Pills, it would take a month to recover from a depletion of Spiritual Sense.

And to refine a Spiritual Artifact, it would take at least a decade.

With full supplementation of Primordial Spirit Pills for artifact refinement, at least three hundred and sixty pills are required.

That’s thirty-six million taels of silver.

Although Spiritual Artifacts are theoretically priceless, a Divinity Transformation Cultivator would often go bankrupt just to acquire a single Spiritual Flying Sword, but...

Most Spiritual Artifacts also sell for over ten million.

Those include less sought-after features like temperature adjustment, size transformation, color shift, or shape alteration.

Therefore, unless pressed for time, no one would use Primordial Spirit Pills to refine Spiritual Artifacts.

But if one of his Primordial Spirit Pills was equivalent to three or four for others, and he only needed one or two days...

"So, can I use sixty to eighty Primordial Spirit Pills and spend less than half a year to refine a Spiritual Artifact?"

Sixty to eighty Primordial Spirit Pills would cost six to eight million taels.

Half a year, a net profit of two million.

This rate of making money...

"Is already very fast,"

said Gu Jinlai.

He held control over Lingxiao City and Yuanhua City.

Although the tax revenue from these cities was incomparable to that of larger cities like Chang County and Baihe, when combined, they were just about ten million.

He earned four million a year.

The earnings had already surpassed the entire Lingxiao City.

"However, the Spiritual Artifacts I refine can’t be sold,"

Gu Jinlai thought to himself.

Though he couldn’t sell them, refining Spiritual Artifacts...

was imperative.

"What I need to do most urgently is to complete the Short Range Defense Cannon Co-spirit. Otherwise, each True Spirit Possession would consume one or two Qingguang... The expenses are too high."

With this thought in mind, Gu Jinlai made a decision.

Buy!

Buy Primordial Spirit Pills!

First, refine the Short Range Defense Cannon into a Spiritual Artifact.

Then, there won’t be a need for his True Spirit Possession, and others could operate it to intercept the Divinity Transformation Great Master’s flying sword attacks.

"Speaking of Divinity Transformation Great Master’s flying sword attacks..."

Gu Jinlai planned to improve the Short Range Defense Cannon.

He could make the cannon lock onto targets based on "Divine Thought," a special type of energy. Then, could he create a radar antenna array model that would have the ability to detect all "Divine Thought" energies within its range?

If he could achieve this...

From then on, any Refining God who stepped into Lingxiao City would be detected by him at once.

This way, he no longer had to fear any Divinity Transformation Great Masters hiding outside the city and suddenly attacking him.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do,"

said Gu Jinlai.

Radar detection, though typically aimed at aircraft and missiles, in this world...

aircraft are approximately equivalent to Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, and missiles to flying swords of Divinity Transformation Cultivators.

Thus, he naturally had to learn how to adapt his techniques accordingly.

"Step by step, first refine the Short Range Defense Cannon into a Spiritual Artifact."

The concept of radar...

He didn’t know how to make it.

Truly didn’t.

This was also a part of cutting-edge products.

"So, apart from knowing how to make gunpowder, Gatlings, rocket cannons, and understanding the principles of nuclear bombs... I’m pretty much useless,"

sighed Gu Jinlai unhappily.

At this moment, the voice of his disciple Gu Xiangyang rang out, "Patriarch, someone from the Purgatory Sect has arrived. It’s Zhao Qian, Elder Zhao... It doesn’t seem like he’s here to accuse us of anything."

"Zhao Qian."

Upon hearing this name, Gu Jinlai already guessed the attitude of the Purgatory Sect and smiled slightly, "Let him in."

...

In the guest hall,

Zhao Qian courteously accepted the tea poured by Gu Chaoyang, showing none of the arrogance typical of an Elder from the Purgatory Sect.

He couldn’t afford to be arrogant.

Times had changed.

At that moment, footsteps were heard outside.

Soon after, Gu Jinlai was seen greeting with a smile, "Elder Zhao, what brings you here?"

"Elder Gu,"

Zhao Qian immediately clarified his stance, "Congratulations to Elder Gu for not only taking Lingxiao City but also advancing further to defeat the Heavenly Gang Sect and take over Yuanhua City, establishing monumental achievements for our Purgatory Sect."

"Elder Zhao is too kind," Gu Jinlai said. "It was merely being at the right place at the right time."

"Hahaha, I’m only telling the truth."

Zhao Qian added with a laugh, "When the Sect learned of this, they were greatly surprised. The Sect Master immediately summoned all the Hall Masters to discuss and decided to reward Elder Gu enormously for his great merits. Had Elder Gu not just been promoted and had shallow seniority, with his achievements in expanding our territories, rising to a Red Robed Elder wouldn’t have been difficult."

"As long as I haven’t disappointed the Sect Master, that’s enough."

Gu Jinlai’s suspicions were confirmed.

As for becoming a Red Robed Elder?

He had already demonstrated the capability to intercept the flying sword of a Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator. If promoted to a Red Robed Elder, would they allow him into the Elder Council?

If allowed, that would be the decision-making layer of the Purgatory Sect!

Everyone knew there were already rifts between the two sides. Who would dare to make that decision?

If not allowed...

It would be against the rules of the Purgatory Sect.

So...

"I am curious, what has the Sect given me as a reward?"

"The Sect Master specifically went to the Sect Treasure Vault and spent half a day personally selecting a secret technique for you," Zhao Qian replied. His disciple, Zhao Haifeng, had already handed him a valuable treasure box: "Elder Gu, haven’t you switched to cultivating the Heavenly Master Path? This is the blueprint for the most splendid creation by the Heavenly Masters a hundred years ago—the Floating Island!"

"Floating Island?"

Gu Jinlai was startled.

Having embarked on the path of the Heavenly Master, he had indeed heard of some of the miraculous creations such as the Star Gate, the Heavenly Dragon, and the Floating Island mentioned now.

These creations were beyond the imagination of cultivators.

Originally, these were top secrets of the Heavenly Master lineage. Not just any regular Heavenly Master, even Heavenly Monarchs might not have had the privilege to access them.

But since the decline of the Heavenly Masters a hundred years ago, the surviving Heavenly Masters, in order to survive, had let these top secrets slip out, thereby becoming known to the world.

The Floating Island...

Was one such product.

A mammoth creation forged by thousands of Heavenly Masters over a century in the Heavenly Master’s Holy Land.

Now, within the Daqian Territory, not to mention thousands of Heavenly Masters, it was uncertain if even a hundred survived.

The Purgatory Sect awarding him this blueprint...

The most expensive useless item.

"The Sect Master is considerate."

Gu Jinlai stated flatly.

Not feeling surprised in the least.

"Has the Sect Master given any other directives?"

"None," Zhao Qian said. "Only that he hopes Elder Gu, as much as you are able, can lend support in Baihe City. Also, sometimes members of the Purgatory Sect from Yuanhua City enter Star State. When they head to Baihe City, the Sect hopes Elder Gu can offer some assistance."

"Of course."

Gu Jinlai replied with a smile: "As a member of the Purgatory Sect, that is my duty."

"That’s good, that’s good."

Zhao Qian was all smiles as well.

The limits of both parties were already understood; the upcoming exchanges...

would naturally be pointless conversations.

...

After Zhao Qian and his disciple left, Gu Chaoyang expressed his admiration, "The Patriarch truly has divine foresight. The Purgatory Sect indeed..."

"It’s just a temporary measure,"

Gu Jinlai stated calmly: "We’re just waiting for the situation in Baihe City to stabilize a bit. Once the Purgatory Sect is able to intervene, they will undoubtedly focus their efforts on Baihe City to extend their reach towards Lingxiao City and Yuanhua City."

Hearing this, Gu Chaoyang also calmed down and nodded.

"With the Purgatory Sect members arriving, it’s about time the Meteor Star Guard arrived as well."

...

As Gu Jinlai had speculated.

The next morning, Gu Jinlai once again arrived in the parlor.

Here, a group of people were patiently waiting.

The leader among them was none other than Chen Jiwen, the Red Star Envoy from the Red Star Department who had first received Gu Jinlai during his initial visit to the Meteor Star Guard.

Seeing Gu Jinlai walking in from the outside stirred some complex emotions in the heart of the Red Star Envoy.

Gu Jinlai...

The scene of him visiting the Meteor Star Guard overnight a few months ago still seemed like yesterday.

Back then, he had just offended the Heavenly Grass Pavilion and was about to face their thunderous retaliation. He had no choice but to offer up the Mystic Steel Armor crafting method to protect himself.

At that time, with just a word, he could determine Gu Jinlai’s fate.

But now...

How much time has passed?

Gu Jinlai had not only been promoted but was in a position equal to him, controlling both Yuanhua City and Lingxiao City.

This was a legitimate control, making the Meteor Star Guard struggle to respond in the short term.

This kind of authority...

Compared to his position as the Red Star Envoy, was strong by more than a little bit.

"Master Chen? It’s been a while."

Gu Jinlai gave a nod of greeting.

"Heavenly Master Gu... I should address you as Gu Star Master now,"

Chen Jiwen forced a smile, "My visit today is to congratulate Gu Star Master on your new position. During your control over Lingxiao City, first you defeated Elder Yang Kan of the Purgatory Sect, avenging Su Town Guardian, enhancing our Meteor Star Guard’s prestige, then you triumphed in Yuanhua City, thoroughly defeating the invading Deputy Vice Sect Master of the Purgatory Sect, Lin Xiao, with outstanding achievements. After discussion by the three department heads, they promoted Heavenly Master Gu to Star Master Overseer, taking over the unfortunate position of the previous Star Master, Zhang Lu, who was harmed by the Purgatory Sect. You will oversee the peace in Lingxiao City, Yuanhua City, and Baihe City."

He outlined the Meteor Star Guard’s stance of turning hostility into friendship toward Gu Jinlai succinctly.

Then, with a serious manner, "Star Master Overseer, the department heads have entrusted you with a great responsibility. You must perform well and quickly restore order in the three cities."

Gu Jinlai looked at him.

If he had not killed Su Tong, he might have actually been moved.

But now...

He accepted the position with a smile, "I will not disappoint the department heads."