Once the first batch was completed, Yaoguang made a point of gathering all the artifact refiners of the Purple Firmament Institute. In front of the entire assembly, he produced thousands of spirit stones to be distributed as rewards.0

Following its recent expansion, the number of artifact refiners at the Purple Firmament Institute had grown from 82 to 204. Furthermore, thanks to the addition of Yun Lai’s team, the number of high-level artifact refiners had reached 46.0

Every single refiner received one spirit stone as a bonus. The high-level refiners were rewarded based on their individual contributions; the minimum they received was five spirit stones, while some walked away with more than a dozen. This bonus alone was equivalent to a large portion of their annual income.0

The number of apprentices had climbed to nearly four thousand, but they were still learning and mastering their refinement techniques. Paying them a couple tens of thousands in the standard currency per year was enough to keep them satisfied. Spirit stones were far too much of a reward for them at this stage, and distributing those to them would've been a waste. Instead, witnessing the earnings of the official artifact refiners would serve as a catalyst, fueling their determination to work hard and get promoted.0

Having suddenly received such a bountiful reward of spirit stones,...0