Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

After the two Golden Pill monks left,

Jiang Ding ran to the center of the formation at the mountaintop, which was also the place where the great array’s defense was strongest.

”One mid-stage Foundation Building cultivator, one at the peak of Foundation Building!”

”I’m doomed.”

He made up his mind that it would be best not to step out of the door until he reached Foundation Building.

Although the Golden Pill had made assurances, many old cultivators whose lives were about to end feared nothing, and common sense, sect rules, or family did not affect them in the slightest.

He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to cultivate.

In the blink of an eye, through the Flying Sword, he sensed dense gold attribute spiritual energy particles surrounding him. With each breath, they trickled into his meridians.

It was exactly the same as the cultivation speed at a Third-tier Spiritual Vein.

The limit of absorption was just there.

”Reaching the peak of Xiantian before the college entrance exam is without a doubt.”

After a while, Jiang Ding opened his eyes and looked not far away.

”Greetings, Young Ancestor Uncle!”

Liu SanQi, accompanied by twelve young girls—some naive-looking, some voluptuous, and some seductive in their own unique ways—bowed respectfully.

Among the twelve girls were the Spring Three Maids—all of whom mostly had a cute appearance and were generally shorter in stature.

The Summer Three Maids, lively and cheerful.

The Autumn Three Maids, seductive and mature with astonishing curves.

The Winter Three Maids, cold as frost.

All twelve of them had Three Spiritual Roots, decent aptitude, and together could form the ’Four Seasons Autumn Killing Array.’ Though they were only in the Qi Practicing Phase, they could pose a significant threat to cultivators at the peak of Qi Practicing.

Moreover, they all had some skills in the cultivation of spiritual plants.

Do not simply see them as maids, in reality, each was the legitimate daughter of a small clan, with status far surpassing any noble or royal in the mundane world.

”Stand up,” Jiang Ding said quietly, not wanting to show anything out of the ordinary in this place he could not fully control.

”Introduce me to Jinlingshan Mountain,” he said softly.

”Yes, Young Ancestor Uncle!”

Liu SanQi stood up and respectfully said, ”Jinlingshan Mountain has ten acres of second-stage top-class Spirit Fields, and a hundred acres of second-tier mid-class Spirit Fields. They are already filled with various second-order Spiritual Medicines. Each year, we harvest one batch and plant another batch. The Spring, Summer, and Autumn Maids are all apprentices of spiritual plant cultivation and can take charge of this task.”

”Selling the Elixirs to the sect every year can yield over twelve hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.”

Jiang Ding took in a sharp breath.

That was more than a hundred thousand Spirit coins; many Foundation-building cultivators would struggle to earn half of that in a year.

”All over the mountain, there are Spirit Woods. A total of sixty-seven second-order Spirit Woods and three hundred seventy-two first-order Spirit Woods, mostly with a gold attribute. They cannot be cut down. The produced leaves that can be used as Spiritual Materials, and the edible Spirit Fruits, belong to the mountain’s master.”

”Each year, that yields over five hundred Spirit Stones.”

”There is one Spirit Spring as well, housing thousands of colorful Spiritual Fish. Each year, we may fish some, yielding over two hundred Spirit Stones.”

”All in all, Jinlingshan Mountain can yield over nineteen hundred Spirit Stones each year.”

Nineteen hundred Spirit Stones!

After saving for seven or eight years, without doing anything, most Foundation-building cultivators would not have as much as that in their entire fortune. No wonder that woman in golden palace attire was so eager to kill him.

It was understandable, very understandable.

”What’s the price for a Foundation Building Pill?”

Jiang Ding suddenly asked.

”Ten thousand sect merits,” Liu SanQi explained. ”Theoretically, one Spirit Stone can be exchanged for one merit, but merits can be exchange for Spirit Stones; whereas Spirit Stones can’t be exchange for merits. Merits are non-tradeable, and can only be obtained through contributions to the sect.”

”Since several decades ago when Xuetu Hall discovered another entrance to the Nine Heavens Relics, every three years the key ingredient for the Foundation Building Pills, Golden Jade Mushrooms, has become increasingly scarce. The exchange for a Foundation Building Pill has also become more difficult, and the necessary merits have continued to increase.”

”The Wood Vein alchemists start their stove once every three years, and at times, even the seven true inheritors might not get a single Foundation Building Pill, let alone others. This is also why Li Daoyuan, the peak of the Qi Practicing Thunder Vein, went to guard Yue Country and then made some foolish mistakes...” Liu SanQi tactfully stopped there.

As a person personally commended by a Golden Pill monk, although his cultivation was only at the late stage of Qi Practicing, his status did not seem comparable to that of ordinary late-stage Qi Practicing cultivators.

”Tell me about these Nine Heavens Relics,” Jiang Ding said, having heard this term multiple times, which seemed to be commonly known within Seven Feather Sect.

”This place was found by Ancestor Qiyu, who went through a great opportunity. It is rumored to be a relic formed from a celestial palace that fell into a spatial rift. It contains many ancient medicinal herbs that have gone extinct in modern times, such as the Golden Jade Mushroom, and even the thousand-year-old Elixirs and Third-order Spirit Mines that the Golden Pill old ancestors yearn for,” Liu SanQi explained.

”It has special prohibitions inside, where those at the Foundation Establishment Stage and above cannot enter. The ancestry master survived many crises by using this to his advantage and ultimately rose to prominence.”

Liu SanQi asked,

”Has Junior Ancestral Uncle ever heard of the Empty Mysterious Crystal Copper left by the Ancestor Zhongxing a thousand years ago?”

”I have.”

Jiang Ding looked up at him.

”This item was obtained by Ancestor Zhongxing from the Nine Heavens Relics. He managed to escape the chasing and killing of numerous Foundation-building puppets and obtained a large amount of Empty Mysterious Crystal Copper. With his Three Spiritual Roots, he was valued by the Golden Pill Patriarchs of that time and taken in as a disciple,”

”It was with this that Ancestor Zhongxing rose to prominence. Thus, he left behind a piece of it as a keepsake, never expecting it to be stolen by his descendants who unearthed the Clothes Tomb. There’s nothing we, as his disciples, could say about it.”

Liu SanQi sighed.

”Why would our sect be at a disadvantage in the Nine Heavens Relics? Is it because our disciples are inferior, or is there some other reason?”

Jiang Ding asked again.

”Exactly.”

Liu SanQi forced a smile, ”Xuetu Hall is rumored to be a branch of a far-reaching Diabolism sect of Nascent Soul level, with their magic, Cultivation Methods, and artifacts all being exceptionally profound and peculiar.”

”Every few generations in their three major Yuanlao Clan families, the chosen direct successors—Hua Xuezi, Du Jiangzi, Bai Gui Zi, jointly known as the Three Sons of Xuetu—can sweep across the younger generation of our sect. Even if the seven true inheritors of our sect join forces, they are no match.”

”We can only rely on luck and increase our numbers to have a chance to collect some main materials for foundation building every three years, but even that is becoming less and less.”

”Should this continue, and if we do not find a new source of Foundation Building Pills, I fear the number of Foundation Builders in our sect will dwindle.”

”In a few days, the disciples who participated in the Nine Heavens Relics trial will be returning. Would Junior Ancestral Uncle like to observe?”

Liu SanQi asked.

”No need.”

Jiang Ding flatly refused.

He would not go out until he reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Even though the Empty Mysterious Crystal Copper could add a stealth coating to the Air-Space Warplane, allowing it to evade the Divine Sense Scan of Golden Pill Monks and greatly enhance his currently lacking sense of security.

Seeing that he had no other orders to give, Liu SanQi bowed and led his group away, busy in the Spirit Fields up and down the mountain.

Jiang Ding took out the Golden Pendant gifted by Cultivator Baimei and injected Xiantian True Qi into it.

A flash of gold light appeared, revealing a metallic lotus with sharp edges.

This item was the inherited treasure of the Seven Feather Sect Gold Vein, the lineage of the ”Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book,” and was also the control hub for the second-tier Big array Golden Light Silver Knife Formation of Jinlingshan Mountain.

He had obtained it from the lady in the golden palace dress.

Specifically refined by Daoist Baimei, it could be controlled by a Xiantian Martial Artist, albeit in a rigid fashion.

True Qi surged into it, and without the need for refining, a stream of information came through. First was the operation of the formation where one could simply set parameters such as the action areas for different levels of authority, and turn on or off certain regional arrays.

”The mountaintop is forbidden to anyone. Do not enter.”

Jiang Ding unapologetically set this condition, and the waist badges of Liu SanQi and others would receive the relevant information.

If anyone deliberately entered and triggered the formation resulting in death, they could not blame others.

Besides that, there was a second-tier light-based Divine Sense Concealment Array, likely left by the former Jin Vein leader Chu FengXi, as most Cultivators need a considerable degree of privacy.

Jiang Ding could not determine whether these arrays had any monitoring back doors left, as his knowledge of formations was limited and his realm too low to understand such second-tier arrays.

He had other methods.

His Divine Soul slightly stirred the rusty sword tip.

Operation normal, the display indicated he could return at any time; there was no alert for inadequate concealment.

Since arriving in this world, the rusty sword tip had never taken him through a space where others could see or sense him.

Of course, he could still forcefully traverse even if someone was present, which wouldn’t affect it.

”Not bad, for now, the Golden Pill of the Seven Feather Sect hasn’t shown any malice.”

Jiang Ding breathed a sigh of relief.

After dealing with the potential issues, he briefly browsed through the ”Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book” from the inheritance.

This was a golden attribute inheritance, roughly equivalent to a ’Law’ level, and only Golden Pill direct disciples were qualified to study it.

It was extremely difficult. For others, even someone with outstanding talents like Li Qingyun would find it extremely challenging, with no possibility of mastery within a year.

As for him, having received Xianmen education and performed well enough to be admitted to a good Cultivation Department of a Xianmen college, it should take him about two or three weeks to understand and cultivate it.

However, naturally, he would not neglect studying the Supreme Classics of Xianmen to learn this. It was sufficient to simply expand his knowledge.

Of course, out of respect for intellectual property rights, as long as the Qiyu Sect did not betray him, he would not break the sect’s rules to leak its inheritance unless he obtained it through conquest.

After setting up his own first-order optical Divine Sense Concealment Array, Jiang Ding’s figure vanished from sight.

Though he had requested leave from school in advance, his absence had grown a little long.