Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

This is a small mountain located more than forty kilometers away from Yuejing.

Its original name is unknown, but since the Jindao School became one of the six major martial arts sects in the Jianghu over a hundred years ago, the mountain has been called Jindaoshan Mountain, and its former name has long been forgotten.

Forty kilometers away, Jiang Ding found a big tree and hid within its shade, leaving no trace at all – not even disturbing the chirping of the birds and insects; everything remained as usual.

The drone’s viewpoint zoomed in rapidly in its screen.

Soon, a series of buildings from the foot to the peak of the mountain appeared before the eyes, with green tiles, wooden houses, and stone cottages – it was almost like a small town; these were all people related to the Jindao School.

At the very peak was an imposing Ancestor Temple enveloped in incense smoke all year round.

From the top of the mountain down to the midsection were the dwelling areas of the core disciples and the Elders of the sect, as well as buildings such as the Skill Transmitting Hall, the Tongzi Hall, and the Sutra Pavilion.

Jiang Ding meticulously drew the topography of the area on a miniature computer.

An old man who made no attempt to hide his powerful aura appeared on a large stone at the mountain top, wielding a giant golden knife. With each movement, a golden blade aura of about three feet pierced the air, creating a wild wind that scattered fallen leaves ten meters away – his presence was frighteningly powerful.

A Xiantian Martial Artist, the ’Patriarch Jin Dao’ Wei Tu!

Apart from the Dragon and Phoenix List, there was no Heavenly List or Earthly List in the Jianghu, and people only knew that Patriarch Jin Dao was strong, stronger than most Xiantian individuals, but his true strength remained a mystery.

Aside from Patriarch Jin Dao, there were many other Inner Qi Martial Artists; just the ones that appeared within the drone’s field of vision totaled more than forty, including seven at the perfection level of Inner Qi.

The one with the strongest aura among the Inner Qi Perfection Martial Artists was, surprisingly, a youth. He had a robust physique and a wild, unrestrained temperament, with a giant saber similar to that of Patriarch Jin Dao strapped on his back.

Ranked seventh on the Dragon and Phoenix List, ’Sea Splitting Saber’ Wei Xian.

It was also he who personally annihilated Qixuan School and stole their most treasured Heavenly Sound Stone.

Beyond this, the entire sect was under strict guard. There were secret sentries everywhere, with their reach even extending near the Yuejing City Gate. Should a large army mobilize, the sect would be immediately alerted to it.

”Such strength, well, it’s just that there are quite a number of them…”

Jiang Ding took a deep breath, as a faint hint of killing intent permeated the air.

”I may need a bit of planning…”

”No, wait!”

His gaze hardened as he looked toward the side of the Ancestor Temple at the peak.

A figure cloaked in black.

Even though the figure was visible to the eye, the drone’s thermal sensors failed to detect any sign of him, leaving no mark; in addition to him, elders of the Jindao School who came and went from time to time never noticed the black-robed person who was so close at hand.

”That looks familiar… damn it!”

Jiang Ding’s expression changed:

”Aren’t you the one who went to the Marquis’ mansion? Possibly a being at the peak of Qi Practicing Realm?!”

The man in a black robe was sitting cross-legged beside the Ancestor Temple; in front of him was a blood pool several zhang* in diameter, with the blood waves chaotically surging and a blood knife the size of an arm bobbing unpredictably within it.

From time to time, he would open his eyes and cast a series of mana techniques, throwing in several blood lumps collected from who knows where, deepening the hue of the roiling blood waves in the pool.

Sometimes, he would draw an ore from the storage of the Jindao School and throw it into the blood pool as well.

The blood pool seemed to possess a powerful corrosive nature. Within minutes, it would dissolve the ore, discarding the majority and leaving only the most refined part which merged into the embryonic form of the blood knife.

No matter how alarming the commotion from the blood pool, the people of the Jindao School never once glanced in that direction, completely ignoring if the storage lost any ores or medicinal herbs.

Jiang Ding’s brow furrowed deeply.

”If only I could get a tank and a classmate over here,” he mused, his face alternating between hope and frustration. ”And my anti-materiel sniper rifle could also do the job. Bullets augmented with magic for breaking spells and concealment wouldn’t be detected by him.”

”The only problem is, those belong to the school’s treasures and can’t be taken out by me.”

”Not to mention the possibility of entering the school’s outdoor training area, where I would undoubtedly be discovered by teachers and students, and there are no bullets in the cultivation room.”

”Let’s not think about this for now.”

Jiang Ding took a deep breath and continued to search the drone footage, but still, he could find no trace of the Heavenly Sound Stone.

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According to information gathered from Gong Caiyu and those well-informed about Dongling City, the Heavenly Sound Stone measures ten feet in height and width and is incomparably hard. To transport it, Sea Splitting Saber Wei Xian had to use multiple horse-drawn wagons pieced together and a breed of extraordinary horses to pull the carts, with Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists as coachmen, to barely move it away.

The Heavenly Sound Stone can help one comprehend martial arts, so there are only a few places where it could possibly be placed—the Ancestor Temple, the storeroom, the Book Pavilion, the Skill Transmitting Hall, and the dwellings of important individuals.

If it’s not in any of these places...

A vicious glint flashed in Jiang Ding’s eyes.

”Once I reach the Qi Practicing Realm, even if it means deploying tanks, I will spare no effort to search the entire Yue Country!”

”If it’s still not found, as long as my own safety is ensured, I will call on Xianmen’s main forces to destroy all nearby Cultivation sects, break open every Storage Bag we can find, all to obtain my Taiqing Spirit Iron!”

Of course, there is still a technical issue.

The rusty sword tip can only take him alone between worlds. He had once used a hamster for an experiment; it died upon arriving here, indicating that only living things from that other world can be brought back to Xianmen.

Xianmen... probably can’t solve this, because Xianmen’s technology has not yet reached the point of instantly traveling between two worlds.

Exposing it without cause is to court the desires of high-level Cultivators, but being unable to satisfy them is extremely dangerous.

Even under the ubiquitous surveillance of the Central Array Spirit Computer, and although Nascent Soul Cultivators cannot wage war, they can still righteously send him to the most dangerous battlefields. This pressure could force the release of anything they desire.

If they still can’t get what they want, they’d go as far as to seek a corpse to study.

Do not overestimate human nature in the face of enormous benefits.

History has repeatedly seen massive civil wars sparked by the high-level Cultivators of Xianmen Sects.

He left a drone behind to keep constant watch over Jindaoshan Mountain.

Jiang Ding rapidly changed his step, donned the unremarkable face mask of a middle-aged man with dull expression, and clad in inconspicuous, dusty clothes, he walked into Yuejing.

The sword, of course, was not an option to put away.

Without the sword, his combat power would drop by fifty percent, so he simply disguised it with a gray scabbard.

The city guards he customarily observed seemed to have decent spirit, not as slacking as the soldiers of Chizhong Mansion, and while their discipline wasn’t as strong as that of Zhendong Marquis’s troops, it was passable.

After making casual inquiries, he headed towards Tianjilou.

Tianjilou, whose primary business includes the trade of intelligence. It’s also present in Dongling City, but he had previously been wary of such mysterious organizations and didn’t want to interact with them too much.

Walking along the street.

The capital of a country is naturally bustling. Wooden buildings four to five stories tall were common sights, and the aura of the passersby was different, with a considerable proportion of martial artists. From time to time, one could spot Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists, and Body Refining Martial Artists who had practiced a few crude Cultivation Methods were virtually everywhere.

The elite of a country congregate here.

If a mighty ruler could emerge, uniting the interests of various factions under one flag here, perhaps an army of tens of thousands could be assembled in a flash, ready to sweep across all directions.

Before long, a sixteen-story tower, standing out like a crane among chickens, loomed into view, visible from afar.

A maid was posting a new edition of the Dragon and Phoenix List, drawing a large crowd of Jianghu people.

The main building of Tianjilou, unlike other locations, updates the Dragon and Phoenix List every seven days, as if fearing the world would not be in chaos and the Jianghu people would not fight for fame and fortune.

Jiang Ding glanced at it and noticed his ranking had risen, as his defeat of ’Ten Flower Sword Fairy’ Wan Qianyu brought him to second place, but he was not concerned and went straight into the building.

”Does the guest want Cultivation Method intelligence, faction intelligence, divine weapon intelligence, personal intelligence, or the recently trending secret legacy intelligence from Master Qixuan?”

As soon as he entered, a beautiful maid greeted him with a charming smile.

”Oh?”

Jiang Ding was slightly surprised, not expecting Tianjilou to categorize intelligence so finely.

”Faction intelligence.”

”Please come to the seventh floor.”

The maid’s eyes brightened as she led the way.

Passing through various rooms and ascending six flights of stairs, all the rooms along the way were tightly closed, equipped with special design features that prevented any sound from leaking out.

The maid stopped in front of room Yi Three and ushered Jiang Ding inside.

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