Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Pain.

Intense pain.

Li Qingyun, covered in dust, lay on the ground, slowly coming to consciousness.

Not daring to open his eyes, his memory still lingered on the scene where he was captured by Patriarch Bai Gui, where in desperation he had attempted to detonate his Elixir Field, only to lose consciousness instantly; his heart was truly filled with panic and unease.

He cautiously extended his Divine Sense, looking around.

Not far away, a young man in green clothes slightly smiled.

”Junior martial uncle!”

Li Qingyun’s body shook, he opened his eyes and stood up.

”It has indeed been a long time.”

Jiang Ding sighed, but did not say much, his gaze shifting to the seven or eight Foundation-building cultivators who had their Spirit Soul Restrictions lifted but were still lying unconscious on the ground.

Among them was ”Vajra” Fa Zheng and ”Half Ghost” Wu Makong from the Dragon and Phoenix List of yesteryears; no matter how far they ran, they would inevitably be caught by Patriarch Bai Gui, who spared no effort in the pursuit. The others were disciples from other sects that were unfamiliar, and there seemed to be a Loose Cultivator among them.

They shared one thing in common: twinling roots.

”Junior martial uncle!”

One by one, they regained consciousness, full of fear, until they saw the young man in green clothes not far away and felt a surge of joy in their hearts. With respect, they bowed and stood in obedience.

”Who might you be?”

The last of the Foundation-building cultivators, a bewitching and vigilant woman Loose Cultivator, stared intently at the young man in green clothes, who was merely at the Mid-stage of Foundation Building, and coldly said.

”You...”

Jiang Ding was about to respond.

”Farewell!”

The bewitching woman swept her Divine Sense over the surroundings, and seeing no other people, she didn’t even bother to test the waters and immediately burst forth with all her mana, transforming into a pink Escape Light, madly fleeing into the distance.

”Pitiful.”

Li Qingyun and the others watched her with pity.

Clang!

A sound of sword cry followed, and a silvery-white, metallic Sword Qi appeared behind the bewitching woman, instantly slicing through the protective red ribbon around her and breaking through the protective shield around her body.

An immense force hit her, causing her to spew out a mouthful of fresh blood as she crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up dust and debris.

A moment later.

Struggling to stand, she wiped the fresh blood from the corner of her mouth and returned to stand respectfully before the young man in green clothes, making a deep bow: ”Your humble servant, Liu Hongshao, greets the senior.”

”Patriarch Bai Gui is dead.”

”You were saved by me.”

Jiang Ding spoke unhurriedly, uttering words that shocked the surrounding Foundation-building cultivators: ”Daoist Liu, you owe me your life, do you not?”

”The senior speaks the truth; your humble servant owes you her life.”

”Your humble servant is at your service.”

Liu Hongshao knelt and saluted, her gaze seductively fixed on the young man before her, realizing that acceptance was not difficult, even somewhat looking forward to it.

You’re thinking of eating farts.

Jiang Ding secretly grumbled, but his expression remained cool as he said, ”You are to serve at the Tushan Dojo for twenty years; after twenty years, you shall be free. Are you willing?”

”Your humble servant is willing.”

Without even inquiring what the Tushan Dojo was, Liu Hongshao respectfully assented.

”As for the rest of you...”

Jiang Ding’s gaze turned towards Li Qingyun and the others.

In truth, they were the ones he was truly concerned about, especially Li Qingyun who, during his tenure as the acting head of Qiyu Sect, managed all affairs with impeccable order, earning the respect and obedience of disciples both high and low, and completed all tasks assigned by the Golden Pill cultivators satisfactorily.

”We are willing to serve you with our lives, junior martial uncle!”

Li Qingyun and the others declared solemnly.

They were straightforward and decisive, without any of Liu Hongshao’s dilly-dallying or thinking of all sorts of nonsense.

”Haha.”

”Dedication is too much.”

Jiang Ding gave a slight smile, ”I simply wish to retain you in the Tushan Dojo because I see that you are capable. After ten years, you are free to leave. Rest assured, your respective rewards, and the cultivation resources of Second-Order Top-Grade Spiritual Veins, have all been prepared.”

As for the Triple Grade Superior Spiritual Veins, he planned to use them to cultivate Third-Order Elixirs, which could assist in refining Flying Swords.

”Yes!”

Li Qingyun readily agreed and then, with a look of confusion, asked, ”Junior martial uncle, where are we, and what place is this Tushan Dojo?”

Monk Fa Zheng, Wu Makong, and several others also looked this way.

”When you hear ’Tushan,’ what comes to mind for you?”

Jiang Ding inquired.

”Tushan Demon Country!”

Li Qingyun’s body shook, he blurted out.

”Correct, that is so.”

Jiang Ding nodded slightly.

”During my foundation-building time, by some chance, I met a senior sword dao expert. After he had slain the Chiyan Fox King, this place became his dojo; I manage it on his behalf.”

”The war with Xuetu Hall has also concluded.”

”The war has ended?”

Li Qingyun was extremely surprised and a bit nervous, he couldn’t help but ask, ”Junior Uncle, may I ask about my master?”

”Both elder brothers are fine.”

”Alright, you can find out the details for yourselves later.”

Jiang Ding waved his hand, ”Here in Tushan Demon Country, as you all know, it’s uncivilized and wild. The common people are bred by the Demon Race and reduced to livestock.

I intend to change the current situation, and I’ve begun mining various spirit mines, managing the spiritual medicine gardens and spirit wood in each region, leaving you behind is to handle these matters.”

”I will find some time recently to eliminate all demon generals within a thousand miles so that you will need to swiftly restore the human society in this area. Choose those with good aptitudes to recruit as internal and external sect disciples, facilitating the management of spirit mine territories.”

”A letter has been sent to the two elder brothers; they will dispatch some people to help.”

”Do you have any doubts?”

The goal he had set was clear, how to achieve it was up to them.

”We understand!”

Li Qingyun, Monk Fa Zheng, and the others responded loudly.

”Good, go now. You may freely choose from second-order spiritual veins near this demon palace, but do not disturb my cultivation without important matters.”

Jiang Ding instructed, ”Also, especially this Liu Daoist friend, who might not know my way of doing things, you all give him a lot of help to avoid losing another working hand.”

Choose from second-order spiritual veins as they pleased?

”Disciples understand!”

Monk Fa Zheng and the others were overjoyed, solemnly saying, ”We shall not disturb secular matters and will root out all corrupt officials, letting the common people enjoy an era of peace.”

”Good.”

...

Over at Armor-25, they were busy as bees, quickly setting up a sect structure, restoring the production of spirit mines and spiritual medicine gardens across the region, re-establishing the human race’s existence and rule within the Ten Thousand Miles Demon Country.

Several months later.

At the mining district’s dormitory area.

Under the blue-gold large tree.

Jiang Ding ended his cycle of cultivation and opened his eyes, recalling the last exploration data of the large Poisonous Liquid Silver Mine and eight third-order spirit mines, along with the hundreds of second-order spirit mines sent by Armor-25.

”Ancient mining automatons...”

Divine Sense went online, browsing among all the major related companies on the internet.

”None.”

”Ancient methods imply inefficiency, high costs and low returns. The market, aside from a few collectibles, lacks such mining puppets.”

Jiang Ding sighed, ”To order custom-made, if I need to spread these puppets throughout all the large and small mines in Ten Thousand Miles Demon Country, I’ll need about 140,000 ancient automatons. The puppet company quotes 82 million low-grade spirit stones, an average of 584.7 spirit stones each, to open a dedicated production line for ancient mining automatons.”

”No rare materials needed, only spirit stones required.”

”Too much.”

Jiang Ding hesitated, thinking hard for a long time.

”Forget it, just do it.”

”These puppets, when my cultivation level is higher, can still be used. They’re not one-time items.”

After handling these matters, the blue-gold large tree shrank and flew into the space between his eyebrows.

Jiang Ding turned into a gray-blue escape light and flew towards the sky, to the site of the Air Space battle system class, where Immortal Luling could watch over him while he honed his sword intent.

Having just flown out a few kilometers, someone stopped him.

”Greetings to Senior Sun Extinguisher.”

Jiang Ding’s face naturally broke into a smile, warm as a chrysanthemum, without any trace of social anxiety.

It was surprisingly a youth with pale complexion, wearing earrings, dressed in torn jeans, a blonde standing in his path with some displeasure, ”Are you going to agree or not, it’s been almost a year now, and you aren’t me, a Nascent Soul monk who can ponder for a year without any response.”

”You’re in a hurry?”

Jiang Ding was taken aback.

If he said he would consider it, he definitely would. Considering the lifespan of a Nascent Soul Monk, a year wasn’t much at all.

He had originally planned to respond after a decade or so, which would still be reasonable.