To think that this Celestial Realm, with all its gods and High Sovereigns, was merely a collection of exceptionally powerful individuals!

When Ye Wen first arrived in the Celestial Realm, he thought the ambient celestial energy was quite rich; however, the more he observed now, the more he realized it was just so-so. Perhaps this supposed celestial aura was merely a side effect of their profound cultivation, causing them to disregard the petty concerns of ordinary folk. Now, their focus had narrowed down to just a few specific matters.

The Heavenly Court was preoccupied with ensuring the continuation of its power structure, and the Jade Emperor’s highest priority was guaranteeing the Heavenly Court’s very existence. On this foundation, he would then begin to contemplate whether it was time to expand the Court's influence.

At present, the Heavenly Court lacked any intense desire for expansion. The Eastern Immortal Continent was vast enough; even though the Court had occupied it, they hadn't managed to fully digest the territory. Large swathes of land remained unpopulated by their subjects, with vast unused areas remaining fallow. Until that was resolved, there was no need for the Court to consider extending its borders.

As for the various Immortal Sects, their concerns were entirely domestic. This was perfectly evident in Cui Jun; this Gourd Immortal usually presented himself as a dissolute rake who cared for nothing, yet during his time at the Mount Shu Sect, he transformed into an obsessive mad scientist, dragging Zheng Ying into experiments day after day.

Zheng Ying was nearly driven to collapse, yet Cui Jun remained utterly unconcerned, continuing his experiments with a resolute attitude of not stopping until he achieved success!

For what purpose? Wasn't it all for the benefit of their Tianji Sect?

"Fighting and scrambling—in the end, it all boils down to those same few things!" Ye Wen pondered. He himself was now practically an immortal; how could he demand absolute purity from others? With a self-deprecating chuckle, he murmured, "We are all cut from the same cloth!" Then, he retired to his couch to rest.

In the following days, Ye Wen ceased his leisurely chats with Shen Gongbao or Wen Zhong. Everything that needed discussing had been said. Shen Gongbao and Wen Zhong likely felt that their tasks were sufficiently complete, rendering further idle talk unnecessary—too many words could only bring trouble. Thus, after a few days, they departed together to return to the Heavenly Court to report.

Ye Wen understood that the next delegation from the Heavenly Court would be bringing supplies to the Mount Shu Sect, and they would arrive in waves! By that time, it would be equivalent to the Mount Shu Sect being forcibly hitched to the Heavenly Court's war chariot. Whether they would rise with the tide or be crushed to dust under the Heavenly Court’s grand strategy depended entirely on the Mount Shu Sect’s performance in the coming period.

To stimulate his disciples into diligent cultivation, Ye Wen summoned his few personal disciples and briefly explained some of his deductions to them.

After he finished speaking, every disciple present wore a grim expression, save for Zhou Zhiruo, who was confined due to punishment.

Wei Hong, his seventh disciple who had experienced life as an emperor, had already guessed some of the truth. When Ye Wen voiced it, he knew his suspicions were confirmed. He immediately asked, "Does this mean that if we cannot rapidly increase our strength, we might be utterly destroyed when the Heavenly Court engages in conflict with some faction?" Ye Wen deliberately withheld the crucial fact that the Mount Shu Sect possessed a final means of survival, nor did he intend to reveal it. He even instructed Ning Ruxue and Huayi to never let this truth slip to anyone.

His objective was to instill sufficient pressure in his disciples, forcing them to focus solely on cultivating their power amidst adversity!

"Precisely!" After giving a definitive answer, the disciples dispersed one by one, returning to their respective quarters either to motivate their own students or to immerse themselves in hard practice.

Zheng Ying and Li Xiaoyao, however, were kept behind. Ye Wen first handed Zheng Ying the schematic for the inferior Heaven-Flipping Seal. "In these past few days, Master has been studying the structural design of those mahjong tiles and devised this relatively simple Heaven-Flipping Seal. Take this and study it carefully. Once the Heavenly Court delivers the materials, you must begin forging. Make several sets first to serve as protective talismans for some of our most outstanding disciples!" Popularizing it among the elite disciples first before gradually rolling it out to the entire sect was the most logical approach, and Zheng Ying had no immediate objections. He was more interested in what the design blueprint for the Heaven-Flipping Seal looked like.

What he received was a re-copied drawing by Ye Wen—a vast piece of white paper covered in diagrams, accompanied by numerous annotations, especially detailing the formation arrays crucial for forging magical artifacts; every minute detail was marked. Upon viewing it, Zheng Ying momentarily wondered if he was holding the blueprint for an industrial machine tool!

After marveling at it for a moment, he quickly scanned the blueprint and found that forging this artifact wouldn't be overly difficult, and the required materials were relatively common. Many of them were included in the shipment promised by the Heavenly Court; in fact, there would be enough material to craft an entire set of mahjong tiles for every single person in the Mount Shu Sect.

However, Zheng Ying still offered a suggestion: "Master, simply enlarging it to smash people seems rather monotonous! Why not carve some special runes onto each tile? When they work together, they could achieve even greater effects?" As soon as he said this, Ye Wen found the suggestion excellent, but nearby, Li Xiaoyao chimed in with excitement: "That's wonderful! When fighting enemies, having sets like 'Big Four Winds,' 'Big Three Dragons,' and 'Pure Hand' deployed sequentially would not only possess formidable power but also yield varied effects—now that would make for an exciting battle!" Ye Wen felt a slight dizziness; why did Li Xiaoyao always steer every topic toward indulgence and amusement?

Before he could object, he heard Zheng Ying agree: "Senior Brother's suggestion is brilliant! And we can use playing cards instead of mahjong tiles; that way, we gain another set of magical artifacts!" 'Are they going to suggest Pai Gow next?'

Ye Wen feared that if these two disciples continued, the Mount Shu Sect would be renamed the Mount Shu Casino! He found it ironic that his sarcastic remark only fueled their enthusiasm. Zheng Ying immediately picked up the inferior Heaven-Flipping Seal design, scrutinizing it intently, pondering how to modify the intricate details of the blueprint to apply them to mahjong, Pai Gow, and playing cards.

It took a few coughs from Ye Wen to snap the two disciples back to attention. They were currently receiving their Master's instruction; even if they had such ideas, they needed to discuss them privately after the Master was finished.

The two exchanged a look, signaling, 'We’ll talk later,' which enraged Ye Wen: "Do you think I can't see you? What are you signaling about right in front of me?"

The scolded pair lowered their heads in silence, adopting the appearance of, 'We know we were wrong.' However, Ye Wen’s next words were: "A set of playing cards is fine, but Pai Gow? Who even knows how to play that?" "..."

"So, Master doesn't know how to play Pai Gow... It’s alright, your disciple can teach you!" Li Xiaoyao chuckled a few times and flipped his hand, producing a few Pai Gow tiles. "This is called 'Double Heaven Supreme'!"

"I don't need teaching!" Ye Wen was quite helpless against this disciple. "Let's talk about how your pill refinement is progressing?"

"It's guaranteed to be good..."

"That wasn't what I asked!"

Li Xiaoyao let out an 'Oh,' and could only answer respectfully, "The Foundation Solidifying Pills—I’ve refined ten bottles. They are stored in the Herb Pavilion; they can be retrieved whenever needed!"

Foundation Solidifying Pills were auxiliary medicines with many uses, especially since many Mount Shu disciples were about to break through cultivation bottlenecks; taking these pills would help them stabilize their progress quickly.

Furthermore, Ye Wen was already discussing with Cui Jun that the initial stock for the Tianji Gate shop would be these very pills. If Li Xiaoyao and Huang Yunruo could produce these pills in large quantities, it would help build a reputation for the Mount Shu Sect, with resource acquisition being secondary.

After getting a general overview, Ye Wen waved them off. However, Zheng Ying spoke up: "During this time, besides assisting Senior Cui with the detector research, I also took the opportunity to examine the blade belonging to Zhang Ling. Senior Cui said that particular sword wasn't troublesome to replicate, so your disciple attempted to forge one!" As he spoke, he drew a long saber from his storage artifact.

Unlike Zhang Ling’s purely Japanese katana appearance, this long saber adopted the style of a Tang Dynasty sword (Tang Dao); its blade was straight and significantly thicker. A quarter-inch edge grind ensured this Tang Dao possessed sufficient formidable armor-piercing capability.

Moreover, the guard and grip were designed with very simple structures, lacking any ornate patterns. This minimalist design was actually more aesthetically pleasing. Ye Wen examined it from top to bottom and agreed that the sword was good.

"Besides possessing the same special abilities as Zhang Ling's blade, this sword can also perform cutting and cleaving, like the sword in the original work!" "Oh?" Ye Wen swung it a couple of times and noticed that as his True Qi flowed into the blade, a faint blue light pulsed within, seeming ready to surge out with his movement. If Ye Wen’s control weren't exceptional, he might have actually launched it. "This sword... which one is it?" He was almost certain that Zheng Ying wouldn't have designed an ability on his own; the eighty percent probability was that he chose one from the source material.

Zheng Ying didn't feel embarrassed that Ye Wen saw through his intent and simply chuckled, "It's the protagonist's blade!"

"Uh... Zangetsu?"

Thinking of the oscillation on the blade when he swung it just now, it was identical to the skill Zangetsu possessed. Ye Wen suspected that if he hadn't restrained his vital energy, a blue crescent moon blade slash would have been launched.

"It’s just the appearance..."

"Because that giant cleaver looked too ugly!" Zheng Ying replied with a completely absurd seriousness. "And Zhang Ling said the same thing, so I changed the style! However, after the modification, this long saber transforms into the appearance of Tensa Zangetsu; aside from the straight blade, nothing else has changed!" "I see!" Having learned this, Ye Wen immediately lost interest. "So, why did you show this sword to me...?"

Zheng Ying scratched his head. "After forging it, I realized that very few people in the entire sect use sabers, so I had to bring it to Master!"

Most Mount Shu disciples favored swords; even when searching for artifacts in the future, they would lean towards flying swords. The rest favored bare-handed combat; they didn't care about the artifact's style, but they certainly wouldn't favor a saber. This meant the only saber users in Mount Shu would be Huang Rongrong and... Guan Zhou!

Thinking of this, Ye Wen recalled Guan Zhou's Cang Lang Po Yue Saber Technique, which conveniently had the character for 'Moon' in it, making it quite suitable for this saber. He nodded: "Understood. Your Master happens to have a suitable candidate, and your work will certainly not be disgraced!" Hearing his Master say this, Zheng Ying knew the Master had someone in mind. However, Ye Wen immediately told him that this long saber would not be given to that person directly, as that person had not yet made any significant contributions to the Mount Shu Sect; the saber would only be handed over after some merit had been earned.

"Besides that, you must forge a pair for your Martial Uncle's wife—she uses dual blades!"

Huang Rongrong's original Xue Xu Shuang Zhan (Blood Void Dual Slash) was indeed in the style of a Tang Dao, just shorter. Since Zheng Ying already possessed the ability to replicate Zanpakutō, forging a matching pair would be beneficial for enhancing Huang Rongrong's strength.

After Zheng Ying departed, Ye Wen swung the saber again casually. The faint flowing energy on the blade almost damaged some nearby decorations, indicating the sword’s power was slightly greater than he had anticipated—this was also related to Ye Wen's high level of cultivation. A person with lower power likely wouldn't generate such arcs of blade energy with a few casual swings.

But this incident reminded Ye Wen of the time he unintentionally channeled the powerful energy of the Profound Universe and brought everyone to the Celestial Realm.

Putting the Zangetsu away, he turned to Garfield, who was draped lazily over the desk. "You also find that scene familiar, don't you?"

"Meow!" Garfield, who had become increasingly spirited, was now almost human save for speech. Thus, chatting with him didn't make Ye Wen feel foolish.

"Speaking of which, as the Mountain-Guarding Divine Beast, you ought to be more formidable!" Perhaps it was just a casual remark at the beginning, but Ye Wen didn't treat it as a joke; he genuinely intended to cultivate this little cat into a proper Divine Beast!

Although other families had powerful mountain-guarding beasts—dragons, or perhaps Qilin, or at the very least, lions or tigers—having just a small cat seemed a bit... underwhelming.

But in Ye Wen's mind, this made it even more awesome: A little cat from our family is stronger than other people's lions and tigers!

However, Garfield, the cat in question, seemed to lack interest in this duty. Now fully recovered, the cat frequently vanished, partly to evade training—the little creature was clever enough to know that if Ye Wen caught him, trouble would follow.

Today, having let his guard down, indulging in the warm winter sun, Garfield forgot to slip away in time and was caught red-handed by Ye Wen! Trying to flee now was futile, as he found himself already ensnared by Ye Wen's Purple Qi Heavenly Net energy.

Shaking his head, wriggling his body, eyes full of tears!

"Stop struggling, this is your fate!"

Holding Garfield firmly, Ye Wen sat down. He first used True Qi to examine Garfield’s internal condition, discovering that his meridians, tempered continuously by high-grade elixirs over the years, were incredibly tough. The physical deficiencies he once had were completely repaired, leaving no lingering weaknesses.

"What shall I train for you?"

He had resolved matters for his disciples, but he truly wasn't sure what to train Garfield in. Especially since the meridian structure in animals differs from humans, meaning many internal cultivation methods were unsuitable for Garfield.

This narrowed the choices down to a sparse few: either the Seven-Colored Battle Qi or the Absolute Domain!

He casually retrieved two secret manuals from his ring and flashed them before Garfield. "Which one do you choose?"

Garfield looked at the first, then the second, and finally shook his head repeatedly, clearly dissatisfied with both cultivation methods! Seeing Ye Wen's confusion, Garfield struck a bodybuilding pose and shook his head violently.

"Ah, muscles..."

The common trait of these two techniques was that upon practice, the recipient immediately transformed into a bodybuilder. Garfield seemed to strongly dislike that rigid musculature. While Claire hadn't turned into a muscle-bound specimen, who knew what Garfield would look like after training?

Putting the two manuals away, Ye Wen pondered again. He realized he possessed quite a few secret manuals, but few suitable for Garfield.

Flipping through another, he held it up for Garfield to see. "How about this one?"

The large characters on the manual read: Jedi Knight Training Method! It was perfectly clear, one of the few cultivation manuals Ye Wen possessed that was not race-restricted.

Garfield looked at it, then assumed a thoughtful pose, seemingly quite intrigued by the manual. But then, perhaps thinking of something—maybe the dark hooded attire of the Jedi Knights seemed too grim and unsuitable for his cute appearance—he finally shook his head.

Ye Wen’s forehead beaded with dark lines; he almost wanted to strangle the cat, but ultimately, he couldn't bring himself to do it, having raised the creature for so long, and it was so spiritually aware.

Putting the Jedi Knight manual away, Ye Wen took out another. "This is the last one! If you don't decide now, I’ll just pick one and teach it to you!"

The line of text on this manual read: Cosmo Cultivation Method!

Upon seeing this name, Garfield paused between deciding whether it was better to become a Jedi Cat or a Saint Cloth Cat.

After a moment of consideration, Garfield finally raised his head, his gaze fixed as he pointed a paw toward the manual: "Meow!"

"Decided?" Ye Wen looked at the Cosmo Cultivation Method in his hand, genuinely puzzled why the cat chose this one. In terms of sheer power, the Cosmo was not necessarily superior to the Force.

The answer Garfield gave him was utterly speechless. The little creature left Ye Wen's hand, performed a few poses on the desk, and then Ye Wen understood!

Mount Shu lacked Force Sabers!

Cat paws couldn't wield swords!

These were two fatal flaws, and Ye Wen had no way to solve them. More importantly, he didn't know if Garfield could assume human form after cultivating either technique!

Therefore, Garfield, who could only rely on scratching people, choosing the Cosmo seemed understandable? Moreover, the little creature reacted quickly; he had already foreseen these issues.

Opening the Cosmo Cultivation Method, the very first page read: To possess a Cosmo, one must first have a formidable physical body capable of containing it! Therefore, strive to temper your body to its absolute extreme!