Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Pond,

Sunlight converged on the talisman sword at the center, dazzling and bright. The temperature around the talisman sword rose sharply, with copious amounts of vapor steaming up, a thin mist spreading throughout.

Whoosh!

Jiang Ding reached out, and the talisman sword turned into a streak of gold light that flew into his hand, the scorching heat dissipating and leaving it as warm and smooth as jade to the touch.

”In another ten days or so, the talisman sword will be perfected, and continuing to temper it further won’t be very meaningful.”

His inner energy permeated every array pattern and part of the sword’s body before making his judgment.

When the talisman sword was first forged, it was extremely fragile, such that even a gust of wind or a bucket of black dog blood could cause it to lose its spirit and become a dead object. With each day of tempering, it gradually became capable of dealing with warriors of Minor Completion of Internal Qi, and then Great Martial Artists.

Now, even those who have reached Completion could easily be slaughtered.

Xiantian... need not be feared either.

Thus far, it had neared the limit of the talisman sword’s material, the First-Order Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array powered by inner qi, and the tempering by the Special Sharp Gold Array.

It wasn’t that it couldn’t be further enhanced, but it would take decades to make substantial progress, expending great effort for minimal results.

”Let’s go, time to check on how the Taiqing Spirit Iron I left at the Jindao School is faring.”

Jiang Ding shook his head, tucked the talisman sword into his sleeve, and with a light step, left the courtyard where he had spent over a month without any reluctance.

Running the Great Achievement-Level Art of Small Concealment, although he didn’t activate the camouflage suit’s optical invisibility, his presence was no different from rotten wood and withered stones.

Even pedestrians, who occasionally looked tense, subconsciously ignored him.

With every movement, his inner energy spontaneously circulated throughout his body, gathering power, and then he broke through the second of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the Ren meridian, healed the damage received, and dispersed the tempering throughout each minor branch within.

Bottlenecks, a thing non-existent.

In the past two days, he had tempered over a hundred and sixty minor branches of the Ren and Du meridians. There remained seven thousand eight hundred and forty minor branches of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians yet to be tempered and nourished.

Ninety-eight days were needed to reach the Large Circle of Vital Energy.

The Blue-Gold Potion was in the process of being refined. If it were delivered, the speed of nourishing and tempering the meridians would significantly increase.

”Move quickly!”

”Damn, how could the people from Qingniugong be helping the royal family of Yue Country?”

About a dozen Jianghu people, their faces bloody, staggered past Jiang Ding. Among them was the scarred swordsman he had seen the day before, his face full of regret and annoyance.

”Kill! A reward of ten taels of silver for anyone who slays the remnants of the Shenjian Association!”

”Colluding with the Wolf God Cult, mercy is not sanctioned!”

Several martial artists with the mark of Qingniugong in ink on their clothing passed by, catching up to the scarred swordsman and his companions, and entangled them in a fight.

Tat tat tat...

A few dozen steps behind, a group of iron cavalry clad in red armor was charging forward. Their long spears formed a forest, their speed pushed to the limit, colliding head-on with the scarred swordsman and his group, skewering them on their lances.

”Spare us! We didn’t know the Shenjian Association was colluding with the Demon Sect!”

”I am willing to pledge allegiance to the royal Xiantian, His Highness the Mountain King!”

The last of the Jianghu men fell to his knees with a thump, tears and snot cascading down his face, yet he earned no mercy. Slain by a disciple of Qingniugong with a single stroke of the sword, the disciple coldly said:

”Colluding with the Wolf God Cult, you have more than earned your death.”

Jiang Ding looked a few extra times at the iron cavalry armored in red that had rushed by.

Armed with exotic steeds and long spears for massed charges, this was the ultimate form of elite military power. If thousands of such elite cavalry existed, even a Xiantian Martial Artist would have to retreat three feet.

Someone like Chen Chen, trapped between mountains and cliffs, died rather pathetically.

No wonder dynasties, rather than Martial Arts Schools, have always held sway during the transitions of the generations.

This purge, targeting forces like the Shenjian Association who had colluded with the Zhendong Marquis and the Wolf God Cult, had been going on for a full day and night. A massive number of involved Jianghu individuals were killed, and the chaos in Chizhong Mansion visibly settled down.

”Who would have thought that the Yue Divine Cavalry, established by the founder of Yue Country, could still maintain quite the combat strength today.”

Jiang Ding silently thought and left the place.

From beginning to end, neither party had noticed him standing nearby with little effort to conceal himself; they subconsciously overlooked him.

At the edge of the slums,

Jiang Ding’s steps halted.

”Wu Makong, today is the day you die!”

An excited, handsome young man with bright and spirited eyes exclaimed.

It was none other than Song Qing, the ninth on the Dragon and Phoenix List, known as the ’Green God Sword’, whom he had met once at Long Xiuyun of the Sihai Business Association.

Green light flickered as he swung his longsword, creating currents of sword qi that surrounded a somber-faced young man in black.

The reason Jiang Ding had stopped was this man.

The second on the Dragon and Phoenix List, ’Half Ghost’ Wu Makong!

It wasn’t because of his reputation; in fact, Jiang Ding had never paid attention to the famous figures in Jianghu, nor was he interested in idol worship.

What truly intrigued him was the way this young man in black utilized his inner energy.

Wu Makong was enveloped in a cold, dark aura, with each flick of his finger seemingly projecting some kind of invisible ’force’ into the void, bestowing him with an augmentation that shattered every strand of the green sword qi unleashed by Song Qing, rendering it unable to hinder even slightly.

If it weren’t for another person present, he could have killed Song Qing with just four or five moves.

”What is this?”

”Can you really invoke the Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi to bolster your moves on your own? Aren’t you an Inner Qi Martial Artist?!”

Jiang Ding was shocked.

This was similar to the magic used by cultivators!

As far as he knew, the vast majority of Xiantian warriors from the Xianmen Sect couldn’t do this, yet this person was able to use it at will while in the Internal Qi Realm, which was truly terrifying talent.

”Underestimating the people of the world, they are the top talents amongst hundreds of millions.”

Jiang Ding abandoned his condescending view of the Dragon and Phoenix List.

It was just a moment of emotional upheaval, but including Wu Makong, both seemed to sense something and turned their gaze in this direction, only to find a middle-aged swordsman with a weather-beaten face, staring intently at them.

On the other side,

The young man who could suppress Wu Makong and prevent ’Green God Sword’ Song Qing from dying instantly was naturally no ordinary individual.

He was the foremost true disciple from Qingniugong, number one on the Dragon and Phoenix List, ’Banished Immortal’ Li Qingyun!

Legend has it, he was a child brought back from the deep mountains by the Master Daoist Qing, unremarkable until the age of sixteen, but then in one day he reached Internal Qi, achieved Minor Completion of Internal Qi in ten days, and Internal Qi Perfection in a hundred days, ascending to first place on the Dragon and Phoenix List at eighteen!

If he had not heeded his master’s advice to consolidate his foundation, he would have certainly achieved Xiantian, something no one in Jianghu doubted.

Li Qingyun struck out with a palm, the invisible ’force’ favoring him, and the unremarkable power of his palm was amplified to a terrifying degree.

The secret technique of Qingniugong, Shocking Waves Palm!

It was a supreme skill comprehended by the Xiantian Ancestor Master of Qingniugong in the midst of a torrential downpour, with palm force fine as silk, capable of trapping an opponent within the vortex of the deep sea in an instant.

At this moment, the ferocious palm force crushed Wu Makong’s Shadowy Spirit Finger, and the remaining threads of force seeped into his fingers, causing his arm to tremble and retreat continuously.

Li Qingyun’s ’force’ was stronger than that of ’Half Ghost’ Wu Makong!

Much stronger!

If they were not both limited to the realm of Internal Qi Perfection, Wu Makong would not have lasted until now.

As for Song Qing, even though Wu Makong was at a great disadvantage, he could be easily dealt with, serving only as a minor deterrent.

”Terrifying talent...”

Jiang Ding thought of the information on the Dragon and Phoenix List and sighed, recognizing that he was far from their equal.