Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

During the day, I accompanied my family and helped to regulate the health of our two elderly members.

At night, I practiced cultivation in my room.

Time,

Slipped by hurriedly for a whole year.

Crackling pops...

Firecrackers exploded throughout the Fulin Community, paper flowers scattered, light blue smoke filled the air, and lights shone brightly everywhere.

The character for happiness was plastered in every corner of the community.

Fresh flowers piled up everywhere, and somehow, the children who had grown up a bit were playing merrily all around.

A woman dressed in a white wedding dress with a white veil over her head, surrounded and blessed by family members, placed her hand in the hand of a handsome man in a suit, her eyes slightly red and from time to time, she turned her head towards her own home, searching for something.

In the end, she found nothing.

She followed the man’s side and got into the wedding car, gradually drifting away.

By the window,

Jiang Ding silently watched, his eyes growing somewhat sour.

Despite living so close and being able to return at any time, his heart couldn’t help but feel the pain of separation.

Where was that lazy, money-loving girl who hated to study?

Throughout it all,

Despite the coming and going, not a single person glanced in his direction.

”Perhaps,”

”The life of a cultivator is a life of constant farewells.”

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

His figure vanished from sight.

...

Demon Palace.

Among the widespread Molten Gold Vines, a youth in green robes sat cross-legged.

Surrounding him were twelve girls, including Gong Caiyu, Xia Tu—the First Servant Girl of Summer, Chun Shi—the First Maid of Spring, Qiu Guo—the First Servant Girl of Autumn, and four other Foundation-building cultivators, all sitting in a circle on the inner ring.

Dong Xue, the First Servant Girl of Winter, was now tasked with guarding the Poisonous Liquid Silver Mine.

In the outer ring, sat one hundred and twenty girls with naive expressions, ranging from eleven or twelve to seventeen or eighteen years old, listening intently without being distracted.

”The way of Formation Method is derived from the ancient Eight Trigrams: Qian for Heaven, Kun for Earth, Zhen for Thunder, Xun for Wind, Kan for Water, Li for Fire, Gen for Mountain, and Dui for Swamp; the principles of Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, and all things in nature are encompassed within...”

Jiang Ding spoke slowly, trying to teach the basics of Formation Method to the surrounding maidens in a simple and understandable manner.

A lot of the maidens, especially Foundation-building cultivators like Gong Caiyu, Xia Tu, and Chun Shi, were able to understand easily. It was as if they were just organizing what they had already known, which gave them a feeling of sudden realization.

The other maidens, particularly the eleven or twelve-year-old girls, found it somewhat confusing. These talented and clever girls had just learned to read within the maiden group and tried to memorize as much as they could.

Four hours passed in an instant.

”Formation Method is the foundation of cultivation, everyone must be diligent and not slack off.”

After finishing the lecture, Jiang Ding answered all the questions posed by the one hundred and thirty-two maidens—one by one.

No matter if the questions were profound or simply related to not recognizing the characters on the Jade Slip, he answered them patiently and tried to be as gentle as possible.

There were no high-and-mighty reprimands or commands, and he kept things as friendly as possible, caring about their lives and education, as well as the complex emotional needs they had during their adolescence.

This approach was a clear requirement set forth by the senior Golden Pill predecessors who designed the education program.

It was not difficult for him; he could manage it with his usual demeanor.

”Alright, you must be tired now, so go back and rest.”

Jiang Ding reminded them, ”If there’s anything else you don’t understand, go ask your sisters of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. And if you are bullied, make sure to tell me, understand?”

”Yes! Master!”

The many young maidens’ eyes sparkled as they replied in unison with sweet voices.

”That’s good.”

Jiang Ding felt somewhat satisfied.

Seeing the innocence of these little ones, they likely wouldn’t deceive or outsmart others, which greatly helped him keep watch over the real-time situation of this small group.

He turned his attention to Chun Shi, Xia Tu, Qiu Guo, and the other maidens.

”Each of you is responsible for twelve girls. Take good care of the little ones and teach them the knowledge of cultivation. The maiden groups with the top three learning outcomes by the end of the year will receive rewards.”

”Yes, Master!”

The eyes of Xia Tu and the other servant girls lit up.

”Caiyu.”

Jiang Ding turned his gaze to Gong Caiyu, ”Can you take charge of Dong Xue’s group of servant girls? Look after them and teach them the knowledge of cultivation from the jade slips.”

”Rest assured, Young Master, I will take good care of them,” Gong Caiyu solemnly promised.

”That’s good. I’ll see everyone in seven days.”

”Thank you, Master.”

A large group of servant girls stood up, bowed, and said, ”See you in seven days.”

After the servant girls left, Jiang Ding flew up into the sky, activated the grand defensive formation of Tushan Immortal City to hide it, and took out a large number of array disks, copper nails, and jade tripods covered in runes that were custom-made by Xianmen Sect.

He inserted them one by one into the pre-existing Semi-Third-Order Array Sky Sword Meteor Array, upgrading it.

As the core of the vast Tushan country, the quasi-third rank formation was becoming insufficient, especially with many Loose Cultivators and Sect disciples converging here for trade, resulting in increased commercial prosperity.

Over the past year, he spent the days with his family and the nights on cultivation. The rest of the time was dedicated to upgrading this formation and replacing its core components. Now, the end was nearly in sight.

The last array disk was inserted into the heart of the Third-tier Spiritual Vein and merged with it.

Humm!

The grand formation of Tushan Immortal City hummed faintly, a shimmer of spiritual light flickered slightly, and then it quieted down again.

”Rise!”

Jiang Ding activated the mana technique, gently triggering the array.

In an instant, Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi converged, and a giant, fiery red, scorching sword appeared in the sky, surrounded by flames, resembling a meteor about to crash down, with its power clearly reaching the upper third-tier level.

With no target, the flame sword silently disappeared.

”That will do.”

Jiang Ding descended to the ground, sat cross-legged, and his presence sank into tranquility.

Humm!

A jade slip flew out from the Storage Jade Pendant, faintly flickering with spiritual light.

”Bandit Cultivators...”

Jiang Ding opened his eyes.

A moment later,

Monk Fa Zheng’s earthy yellow Escaping Light hurried over, his complexion ashen: ”Master Uncle, the new head of Law Enforcement Hall, Chen Sansheng, led more than twenty Foundation-building cultivators to encircle the Red Robes bandits and, unfortunately, perished. Only three managed to narrowly escape back.”

”I am incompetent, please forgive me.”

Monk Fa Zheng’s face was filled with bitterness.

Back when Li Qingyun was here, everything had been handled smoothly for fifteen straight years without incident. But in his own time, issues arose constantly.

Was it luck?

There was no such thing as luck that lasted so long.

The opponent must have preemptively dealt with potential problems before others had even noticed them.

”Red Robes bandits?”

Jiang Ding asked indifferently.

”Yes, they are a group of bandit cultivators who have risen recently. They’ve repeatedly killed and plundered cultivators coming to and from Tushan Immortal City. They always vanish after a successful robbery, leaving no trace.”

Monk Fa Zheng spoke softly.

”I was planning to handle it myself or at least find their trail before reporting to you...”

”I know, you may leave.”

Jiang Ding’s expression remained calm, without saying much more.

This makeshift group was the best manpower he could find; a few mistakes were inevitable.

”Yes!”

Monk Fa Zheng felt a sense of doom and respectfully excused himself.

A grey-blue Escaping Light flew into the sky, glancing towards the location of the third-tier cave dwellings rented out by Tushan Immortal City before leaving the city.

”I hope it’s you.”

”I need the head of a Golden Pill Monk right now to deter the rest, to extricate myself from these trivial matters, so that I have time to deal with other issues.”