Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

The statue collapsed and fell, the soul fragment destroyed.

The desolate land of ten thousand miles of yellow sand around the Ancestor Temple of the Falling Void Sect emerged amidst the collapsing layers, revealing itself within the mist of incense fire.

Jiang Ding unlocked the restraints of the Eight Trigrams Breaking Banned Formation.

”Huff, huff...”

A large group of Golden Pill Peak cultivators fell to the ground like leaves, regardless of whether they were at the early, middle, or late stages of Golden Pill, or whether they were elites or not, all looked deathly pale with agonizing pain in their meridians and drained of both qi and blood.

Clearly, the Formation Method had calculated the extraction of their mana and Divine Sense very precisely, taking exactly 120%.

Not more, not less, right on the critical line of permanent damage and the fall of their cultivation bases.

No cultivator dared to complain, instead, they looked respectfully at the young man in green robes in the sky and the fragments of the statue on the ground, then sat down with crossed legs and quickly entered a state of healing to stabilize their Golden Pill Dao Foundations, which were on the verge of collapse.

Jiang Ding did the same, closing his eyes to recuperate and restore his mana in the sky.

This battle had indeed been somewhat difficult.

For someone like Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch, even just a soul fragment was a bit too much for one of his avatars to handle, and a moment’s carelessness could mean death and soul destruction.

”Have you survived these ten thousand years?”

Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

The lifespan of a Nascent Soul Cultivator was ten thousand years, and this person had become famous before that, having ascended to divinity transformation even earlier.

As time had passed until now, he should’ve reached his end long ago.

Even with life extension elixirs like the Longevity Pill, not to mention the scarcity in the Small World difficult to produce Nascent Soul level Life Extension Elixirs or Heavenly Materials and Earth Treasures, even if they existed, they could only extend one’s life for one or two thousand years, and he would still be long gone.

”To ascend to a higher realm?”

Jiang Ding thought of a possibility and his heart skipped a beat.

”No, impossible.”

”Not to mention inheritance, a mere Small World simply doesn’t have the grounds for ascending to Refining Nothingness, just like a flowerpot can’t grow a towering tree.

Solely material and nutrients are insufficient; cultivation isn’t merely wishful thinking, it must conform to the constraints of reality.”

Just like the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, at its peak, dominating the Domain’s situation, forcing the Eight Great Immortal Sects into seclusion within their own Small Worlds, not daring to venture out, and directly controlling no less than two hundred Small Worlds.

But even so, it only barely meets the needs for ascending beyond Refining Nothingness, and it requires the accumulation of at least ten thousand years of time.

This shows the difficulty of advancing to higher realms.

It’s not like being an elite means you can achieve anything, the material foundation must exist first for there to be any possibility of the next step.

Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch, although an invincible presence within his domain, was still far from enough.

”Hibernation?”

”There is a slight chance, this world isn’t an ordinary Small World, there might be some related secret techniques. However, he certainly wouldn’t be in his peak state, and recovery would take at least several hundred years, nothing to fear.”

Jiang Ding went through all the possibilities one by one, easing his mind.

Who knows who would need to flee after a few centuries.

Setting aside all other thoughts, he devoted himself to healing his Divine Soul and mana, entering a semi-closed-door cultivation state.

In front of the Ancestor Temple of the Luoxu Clan, a very quiet state ensued, with only the sound of the wind blowing and no other noise.

This lasted for more than half a month.

Jiang Ding opened his eyes, looking around.

Individuals like Six Dao Saint, Blood Cloud, and others had already completed their healing, standing respectfully to the side with their hands tied, not daring to urge anything.

Half a month wasn’t long for Golden Pill cultivators, just enough to heal some superficial wounds and restore some mana, enough to maintain basic self-preservation.

But all the Golden Pill cultivators were eager to end their recovery, glancing occasionally at the shining gold statue fragments around them, especially the pieces with pure and sharp aura of the fourth rank.

Some were even greedily looking towards the Ancestor Temple of the Falling Void Sect, speculating about the earth-shattering treasures it might contain.

If it were an ordinary person, the crowd wouldn’t be so fervently eager.

No matter what treasures or inheritances there were, they usually belonged to a minority of the top powerhouses, which everyone was accustomed to, as this had always been the norm in the cultivation world, where the few strong owners held the vast majority of things.

But this person was different!

He had personally promised many things and so far showed no signs of reneging, which inevitably led to wild flights of fancy.

”It seems that my fellow Daoists are quite eager.”

Jiang Ding stood up, nodded slightly, and scanned the surroundings with his Divine Sense.

In an instant,

Countless fragments of Gold Glow flew from all directions within dozens of kilometers, converging towards this spot.

Some were as large as houses, others as fine as dust, regardless of size or grade, all flew here and fell to the ground, forming a statue of a hundred-zhang-tall human figure, faintly resembling the visage of Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch.

The Six Dao Saint and Hei Louxi, among others, looked somewhat uncomfortably towards the distance.

In the Northern Plains families, regardless of whether it’s the Diabolism or the Righteous Dao, filial piety is paramount, a political correctness that many high-level cultivators genuinely embrace: without ancestors, there would be no today for them.

An ancestor statue desecrated to this extent should be defended to the death, with enemies slain before there could be peace.

Yet...

The Six Dao Saint and others merely averted their gaze, taking no action whatsoever.

”One third of it belongs to me.”

Jiang Ding stated indifferently, looking at the cultivators around him.

”It is only right!”

”Lord Tushan is most magnanimous!”

”I admire you...”

Immortal Baimei and others were overjoyed, replying continuously with flattery and praise that did not cease, and they meant every word without feeling the least bit embarrassed.

Because it was almost a fact.

Many Golden Pill Monks asked themselves, faced with so much Gold Glow, including fourth-grade Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, if it were them, they certainly wouldn’t share with others, especially not with a group of disunited and weaker individuals.

The law of the jungle is the natural order of the Cultivation world.

”Very good.”

Jiang Ding nodded, waved his hand, and pieces of Gold Glow flew out from the statue, a large pile of third-grade, a small pile of fourth-grade, hanging in the air.

He ordered the many Golden Pill Monks to scan with Divine Sense one by one, affirming the weight and quality of each, and took one third for himself.

These treasures were worth over a billion low-grade Spirit Stones, rare materials scarcely seen in the outside world, and extremely suitable for refining Flying Swords.

Everyone watched the remaining Gold Glow with heated eyes.

”The rest is for you.”

Jiang Ding did not mince words, he threw out a jade slip and casually inscribed some information, distributing it to everyone.

The many Golden Pill Monks eagerly received the jade slips, holding their breath as they read.

Han Lin also took the jade slip that had flown in front of him, and his Divine Sense delved into it.

At the top of the list, the prominent name of Scorching Sun Swordsman, Lie Shan, immediately caught his eye.

”Merit first place, Lie Shan.”

”Heading the Li Fire Trigram, organizing Formation Method, harmonizing myriad things, merit increased by three hundred; Golden Pill Peak, merit increased by ten; Formation Method in operation for the nineteenth breath, assisted in forming the Li Fire Trigram Sword, merit increased by thirty; when the Formation Method collapsed, was the first to react and reorganize, merit increased by eighty...”

Under the name of Scorching Sun Swordsman Lie Shan, rows of Spiritual Script recorded his merits, each line accompanied by images that portrayed his every word and deed in battle, the reasons for his acquired merits, without a single error.

So detailed?

Han Lin was inwardly astounded.

”Lie Shan, meritorious deeds totaling four hundred and forty-seven, awarded third-grade Gold Glow..., awarded fourth-grade Gold Glow...”

”Merit second place, Yin Dao.”

”Golden Pill Peak, merit increased by ten; Leading the Qian Trigram, merit increased by three hundred;... first to waver, collapsed, slowest to recover, merit decreased by sixty...”

”Meritorious deeds totaling three hundred and fifty-five, awarded third-grade Gold Glow...”

The second-placed Six Dao Saint and Scorching Sun Saint were originally not far apart, but the latter made a mistake in battle, and hence the gap widened significantly.

”Merit third place, Blood Cloud, meritorious deeds totaling two hundred and fifty-seven, awarded Gold Glow...”

By the time it reached third place, the amount of merit had significantly plummeted.

Han Lin examined it closely, his Divine Sense swept over each line of merit and the accompanying images, and realized compared to the two predecessors, this person’s expertise in Formation Dao was too lacking, and could not compare to the Six Dao Saint or Scorching Sun Swordsman, relying solely on near-Nascent Soul Stage strength to make it to third place.