“Since the entire user base is online, let’s begin.”

Sun Yi’s voice rolled over the silent plaza, amplified by his True Qi.

“First, I’ve reviewed the performance metrics. The average cultivation level has risen. You are grinding hard, and your efficiency is trending upward. I am pleased.”

“This confirms that the reforms—the new operating system I installed for this Sect—are valid. The ROI is positive.”

“For the Qingyun Sect to scale, we need this level of output from every single unit.”

Sun Yi paused, letting the praise sink in before shifting to the critical bugs.

“However, during this expansion phase, we have hit a bottleneck. Specifically, the compatibility issues for disciples with Low Grade Spirit Roots attempting the Foundation Establishment upgrade. I know the data looks grim. I know those of you running on legacy hardware are terrified of a system crash.”

He raised a hand, his tone shifting from analytical to commanding.

“As Headmaster, I am telling you: the Trinity Cultivation architecture—Body, Qi, and Soul—is the optimized patch. It is the most efficient path to bypass the bottleneck.”

“We have supply chain issues with body-tempering resources, I admit. We are burning raw materials because we lack a dedicated software—a proper body cultivation manual. That is an inefficiency I will resolve. I will source the necessary code.”

“As for the Soul expansion pack… that is harder. But I am setting a deadline. Within two years, I will deploy a solution.”

Sun Yi leaned forward, his digital gaze sweeping the crowd.

“Do you trust the roadmap?”

The silence held for a heartbeat, then shattered.

“We believe the Headmaster!” “We trust the process!” “The Headmaster has never failed us!”

The shout was like a tsunami, a physical wall of sound that shook the dust from the Battle Tower.

Sun Yi nodded. He gestured for silence, dampening the volume with a press of his hand.

“I hear your loyalty. But I also know the user psychology. You say you believe, but your internal logic is skeptical. After all, there is no historical data of a Low Grade Spirit Root achieving a perfect breakthrough in this Sect.”

The crowd shifted uneasily. He had read their minds. The fear was deep-rooted; centuries of cultivation dogma didn’t vanish overnight.

“Therefore,” Sun Yi continued, his voice calm, “I will generate the data myself. I will perform a live demonstration of the Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Without a Pill. Without safety nets.”

The crowd gasped.

“What? A live demo?” “No Pill? That’s suicide!” “The failure rate is too high! Headmaster, you can’t!” “If the system crashes, we lose everything!”

Panic rippled through the disciples. To them, breaking through without a pill was like jumping off a cliff hoping to learn how to fly on the way down.

Sun Yi waved off their concerns, his expression hardening into cold steel.

“The breakthrough is merely a technical procedure. Before we execute that, I need to patch a critical error in our community culture.”

He pointed to the spot where the bullying had occurred.

“I am disappointed. The toxicity levels in this server are unacceptable.”

“I deleted the partitions between Inner, Outer, and Miscellaneous disciples for a reason. Optimization requires network density. You are nodes in a single system. You should be accelerating each other, not throttling bandwidth.”

“You will not stay in this safe zone forever. The open world is hostile. When you are out there, facing external threats, the only backup you will have is your fellow disciple.”

“Do not look down on Low Grade users. When the raid boss comes—and it will come—you will need a kin who can watch your back, not a rival who stabs it.”

Sun Yi’s words cut deep. The ‘geniuses’ lowered their heads, shame flushing their cheeks.

“Some of you think high-spec hardware makes you a god. You achieve a minor milestone and think you own the server. Today, I am going to redefine the metric of ‘Genius’. I will show you that Spirit Roots are just pre-installed specs—they do not determine final performance.”

Sun Yi’s voice suddenly spiked in volume, booming like a war drum.

“All Foundation Establishment disciples with High Grade Spirit Roots. Move to the center of the plaza. Now.”

“Everyone else. Clear the buffer zone. Move back.”

The crowd scrambled to obey. The formation shifted instantly. The elite group—about fifty disciples, including a hesitant Luo An—clustered in the center, looking exposed and confused.

Sun Yi hovered above them, cataloging them. Fifty units. High potential, poor attitude.

“Good. You are the ‘High Spec’ inventory. The so-called geniuses.”

Sun Yi lowered himself until he was floating just above their eye level.

“I am running on Low Grade, Three-Attribute Spirit Roots. My current version is Qi Refining Grand Perfection.”

He smiled, a razor-thin expression that promised violence.

“I am challenging you. All of you. Let’s see if your high-end hardware can handle my software.”

The plaza exploded into chaos.

“A challenge?!” “The Headmaster is smurfing?” “He’s a Qi Refining n00b compared to them! How can he fight fifty Foundation Establishment experts?” “This is impossible. The stat difference is too high!”

The disciples couldn’t process it. In the cultivation world, a realm gap was absolute. A Qi Refining cultivator challenging a Foundation Establishment expert was like an egg challenging a rock.

But the three disciples who guarded the Battle Tower exchanged knowing glances. They had seen the logs. They knew Sun Yi’s DPS was broken.

In the center circle, the ‘geniuses’ were terrified. Not of losing, but of winning.

One of the bullies from earlier stepped forward, trembling like a leaf in a gale.

“Head… Headmaster, I admit my error! I was wrong to mock them! Please, retract the command! I dare not raise a hand against you!”

The others chimed in, desperate to avoid the fight.

“We apologize! Please forgive us!” “We know our wrongs!”

“Hahahaha!”

Sun Yi laughed, a cold, metallic sound that cut through their pleas.

“What is this? Pity? Do you think I am a fragile admin who needs protecting? Or do you think that because your level is higher, victory is a calculated certainty?”

“Enough. I am not asking for your permission. I am initiating a stress test.”

“From today on, you will learn a new rule: Specs are meaningless. Performance is everything. Only the strong are geniuses.”

Sun Yi pointed a finger at the trembling bully.

” everyone else, clear the range. You. You’re Player One.”

The other forty-nine scrambled back, leaving the Early Foundation Establishment cultivator alone in the spotlight. He looked like he wanted to cry.

“Hmph.”

Sun Yi didn’t wait. He didn’t bow. He simply executed the command.

Sub-routine: Golden Sword.

He tapped the air.

PING.

A beam of golden light erupted from Sun Yi’s chest. It didn’t travel; it simply appeared above the disciple’s head, condensing instantly into a massive, terrifying sword of pure energy.

The pressure that rolled off the blade was heavy enough to crack the pavement.