Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Jiang Ding, Jin Lingfeng, and An Siyan arrived at the Chinese class classroom together, eight hours early.

Calling it a classroom was somewhat of a stretch; it was more like a flat patch of ground with a stone platform in the center, resembling a lectern. They simply labeled it with a classroom number in the school’s map handbook, and it was done.

It was terribly simple.

”’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra’, allows the cultivation of electromagnetic mana, can control all things, especially with a great boost to metal manipulation— it matches my Dao Body Embryo quite well...”

Jiang Ding pondered over it bit by bit, attempting to memorize it by rote, but always without success.

In desperation, he could only read it sentence by sentence, striving for proficiency through practice. Occasionally, a flash of understanding would come to him, insights sparse and unsystematic.

Without someone to teach him, he wondered if he might spend half a lifetime without even grasping the basics.

The three of them occasionally exchanged thoughts, mostly similar, even though An Siyan himself held the title of a Second-Order Formation Master.

Each sat cross-legged, pondering over the scripture.

Time passed unknowingly, and eight hours went by.

Dong!

A deep and resonant bell sound startled everyone awake. Looking up, they saw a refined elder sitting on the stone platform with a smile.

It was the famous Immortal Dinghai, Zhang Zhen, whom they had seen many times on television!

”Teacher Zhang, hello!”

Jiang Ding and the others became solemn, stood up, and bowed respectfully.

”We pay respects to Immortal Dinghai!”

An Tuzi and the others did not dare to be negligent, bowing deeply with utmost respect.

Even though they might reach such a realm in the future, at present, they had to maintain absolute respect for an Immortal of Nascent Soul. This was an iron rule that all cultivators must follow!

”Hello, students!”

Immortal Dinghai, Zhang Zhen, said with a smile, then slightly nodded, ”Friend An Tuzi, are you getting accustomed to Qingfeng University? Has anyone bullied you here?”

”Everything is fine, thank you for your concern,” An Tuzi replied, gratefully glancing at Jiang Ding.

”That’s good. If friend An encounters any trouble, feel free to inform this old Taoist. The Xianmen Sect and the Five Elements Heavenly Sect share a life-and-death alliance; we would not allow a friend from the Xianmen Sect to be wronged.”

Immortal Dinghai stroked his beard.

”Students, which cultivation methods have you chosen?”

This question seemed addressed to everyone, yet each student felt as if it were being asked to them individually.

”Teacher Zhang, I chose the ’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra’,” Jiang Ding also felt this and answered instinctively.

Only then did he notice that the surrounding noise had somehow quieted down, although he could see people’s lips moving, nothing was heard.

”Not bad, it suits you well.”

Immortal Dinghai nodded slightly, ”If it were the ’Great Sun Sword Sutra’, apart from recommending some reading material, I wouldn’t be able to teach you much. The art of the sword cultivator is too specialized, and I haven’t delved into that area.”

”The ’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra’ is quite good, many Xianmen cultivators like it. The lower-level cultivation methods are vast, and there’s a wealth of exploratory findings in this area. Most of the difficulties encountered in cultivation have been faced by predecessors, and one only needs to teach according to the student’s capabilities.”

”You’ve looked at the scripture, haven’t you? What are your thoughts?” asked Immortal Dinghai playfully.

”I can’t understand it at all,” Jiang Ding scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, ”Trying to comprehend it forcefully, I sometimes have some understanding, but I’m not sure if it’s correct. It’s rather hazy.”

”Haha, that is normal; don’t be discouraged,”

Immortal Dinghai chuckled.

”’Scriptures’ represent one of the highest crystallizations of Immortal Path technology in this domain, and you, a little child, want to bite off more than you can chew? Isn’t that a bit outlandish?”

”It’s like when you were in junior high and high school, where no one begins learning math with advanced mathematics, calculus, or quantum physics right from the start. That’s not natural.”

”What does the teacher mean?”

”Right, start from the beginning, with the lower-level Cultivation Methods of the ’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra,’ starting with the Decision-Level,” Immortal Dinghai absently stroked his beard. ”Start with the basics like ’Magnetic Spirit Technique’ and ’Gold Magnetic Decision,’ then move step by step to the Magic-Level and Sutra-Level, and finally try the ’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra.’

”That’s the benefit of a complete system. ’Great Sun Sword Scripture’ couldn’t possibly offer such conditions.”

”Moreover, ’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra’ is derived from Xianmen’s concept of science and physics. You’ll need to read and study texts like ’Principles of Electromagnetism,’ ’Electromagnetic Fields and Waves,’ ’History of Electromagnetic Studies,’ and so on. You could even audit courses in a common physics department, aiming to get a physics doctorate within a year or two. This will be very useful.”

”Understood, thank you, teacher.”

Jiang Ding had a sudden realization.

A few words had pointed out the entire direction for his study. Without this knowledge, he would have been fumbling alone, with no telling how long it would have taken him to grasp these simple truths.

”That’s the process. If you encounter any problems, come and ask me. I’m here every month at this time, or my avatar is.”

”Oh, right.”

Immortal Dinghai suddenly remembered something: ”Your talent in the Way of the Sword is much greater than others; you are naturally a Dari Swordsman, achieving the Sword Intent in the desolate sword lands of Xianmen.”

”You might consider reading some of the Cultivation method books that were salvaged from the ruins of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, such as ’Great Bright Sword Technique,’ ’Pure Yang Never-ending Sutra,’ and the ’Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book,’ these few available sword-related texts to broaden your understanding.”

”After all, many principles in the Immortal Path are interconnected, and you should not waste this advantage in the Way of the Sword.”

”’Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book’?!!”

Jiang Ding blurted out, his hairs standing on end.

Isn’t that the supreme heritage of the Seven Feather Sect Gold Vein, just a ’Magic-Level’ Cultivation Method?

Or perhaps, was it just a case of the same name?

This was common in the Cultivation World; there were only so many good names, and without any trademark protection, similar names were everywhere.

”Yes, the ’Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book’ is one of the few Cultivation Methods from the Great Sun Sword Pavilion ruins that are well-preserved,”

Immortal Dinghai looked at him curiously: ”Although it’s relatively ordinary, merely Magic-Level, it is completely sufficient for broadening one’s knowledge.”

”The student understands.”

Jiang Ding took a deep breath.

...

The class lasted for seven days.

In these seven days, Immortal Dinghai painstakingly started from the most basic ’Magnetic Spirit Technique.’ Instead of forcefully feeding him answers, he subtly guided Jiang Ding to think, to study alongside him, and to understand and solve challenges on his own.

The learning efficiency was at least ten times faster than studying alone!

Ding-dong!

The end-of-class bell rang, and Immortal Dinghai drifted away.

Jiang Ding declined the invitation to dine and return to the dormitory with An Siyan and Jin Lingfeng, hurrying towards Qingfeng University Library, where a Fourth Stage titanic banyan clone was located.

He found a computer and entered ’Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book.’

Just as expected, the title ’Pure Yang Golden Lotus Book’ appeared on the screen, and even the beginning summary felt very familiar.

”The remnants of the Great Sun, still alive...”

Jiang Ding murmured to himself, a cold murderous intent roiling ceaselessly.