Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

”The Domain Ruler’s Crown Prince?”

Many Nascent Soul Cultivators fell into deep thought.

”The Great Sun Sword Pavilion indeed once had the potential to dominate the Domain, and it was only one step away from accomplishing the great feat of annihilating the Eight Great Immortal Sects and dominating the Domain alone.”

”If it weren’t for the emergence of the Xianmen Sect, this Domain being called the Great Sun Domain would have been no issue.”

Suddenly, Yuan let out a light sigh.

”The Cultivation Methods of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion are actually half a rank stronger than those of the Eight Great Immortal Sects, and the Eight Great Immortal Sects’ methods are half a rank stronger than those of Xianmen. We don’t have the Refining Nothingness inheritance.”

”In fact, Xianmen has held back our family’s Dari Swordsman.”

”If he had been born during the era when the Great Sun Sword Pavilion existed, his Dao path would have been much smoother.”

”In the past, Dinghai told me that after the destruction of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, the Sword Dao fortune of the Domain might transfer to Xianmen. I dismissed it then, scolding him for believing in feudal superstition, saying that the concept of fortune is simply a rumor fabricated by Cultivators due to their fear of the unknown.”

”Now, I think there’s some truth to it.”

”Sword Dao fortune?”

The surrounding Nascent Soul Cultivators seemed to reflect on this.

”Haha, this theory is quite interesting.”

Canghai Heavenly Monarch shook his head, pondered for a moment, and couldn’t help but smile, ”It’s as if the one destined to ascend beyond Refining Nothingness, who should have been the unparalleled Sword Dao elite that inherited the Sword Dao fortune of this Domain for hundreds of thousands of years, similar to a character like the Ancestor Zhongxing of the Sword Pavilion, was intercepted by us.”

”Under his lead, the fate of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion would take flight, stepping into deeper reaches of the starry sea, heading towards unimaginable prosperity.”

”And then, we snatched him up.”

”Hahaha!”

Another Heavenly Monarch laughed loudly, ”Thinking of it this way, there’s a kind of inexplicable thrill. Flame Spirit Heavenly Monarch, the so-called number one Divinity Transformation Cultivator of the Domain, that old coot—if he were alive and heard about this, he’d probably feel so miserable that he’d want to cough up blood.”

”If he were alive?”

”That’s impossible.”

The Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch from the Xianmen Science Institute stated indifferently, ”That old mixed breed is already dead. It was witnessed by myself and more than forty Divinity Transformation Cultivators from the Eight Great Immortal Sects. His Divine Soul and body, along with his Flame Spirit Heavenly Sword, were ground to dust, and the Soul Destruction Spell was cast thousands of times. Even if reincarnation exists in this world, it won’t include him.”

”That is truly regrettable.”

”Quite regrettable indeed... Ahahaha”

The surrounding Nascent Soul Cultivators exchanged glances and burst into hearty laughter, filling the air with a jovial atmosphere.

”But this is our person, I just feel a bit guilty...”

Yuan said with a bitter smile.

”Yuan, you’re overthinking it,” Canghai Heavenly Monarch said dismissively, ”The talk of destiny is quite ludicrous. There is nothing predetermined in this world, and even if the Great Sun Sword Pavilion was still in its heyday, this generation’s Swordsman would have already been born. The conflict between Swordsmen is cruel and without limits; he might have already died in some corner, and ascending a level against the odds is nearly impossible.”

”Moreover, you’re being too distant.”

”Since he is one of us, we share both honor and disgrace. We share the good parts and also shoulder the bad defenses together. To give only the good parts is like raising a spoiled child; it’s unrealistic.”

”Your many years of teaching have made you weak; this should not be.”

”Weak?”

Yuan was taken aback, fell silent for a long time, then nodded in acknowledgment of the other’s criticism.

”Alright, enough of the nagging. Important matters take precedence.”

The Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch interrupted the two’s chatter, raising his voice several notches. The sound waves spread in all directions, drawing the attention of many Nascent Soul Cultivators, ”It’ll be the same as usual. Everyone shares their own insights, we all help to check and fill in the gaps, to see which are more correct. We set several directions, and everyone works together in the same direction, each taking on a portion. If someone feels it’s unsuitable, we’ll switch.”

”I’ll go first,” he said impatiently.

”This should be a derivative of the Immortal Technique in the direction of Five Elements Gold, as well as causality. I think we can start with the ’All-transforming Magnetic Origin Sutra’ and the ’Supreme True Hole-Spinning Gold Scripture’ from the Immortal Sect Nine Fairy Scriptures, which are related to the metal element. We can engage in contemplation through analogy, questioning, and comparison. We might also consider from the perspective of Xianmen’s metallurgical industry...”

The Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch spoke confidently, while the surrounding Nascent Soul Cultivators listened intently, absorbed in his understanding of the Golden Emperor Map derived from his recent contemplations.

After he finished, some agreed, others objected, and still others were unable to judge and simply took note. The responses varied.

”Next, it’s my turn. These fine threads of metal element causality, I think they can be applied in army formations, which will...”

Canghai Heavenly Monarch quickly followed up in discussion.

As time passed, one Heavenly Monarch after another shared their thoughts with the group. Many ideas were pooled together for discussion. In the end, they selected the most likely correct directions for exploration, with each Heavenly Monarch taking responsibility for different aspects of the work.

Occasionally, some comparatively simple yet cumbersome parts were distributed among the various universities and research institutes of Xianmen to process, mobilizing the collective wisdom of Xianmen for research.

It was a strategy by the collective for the benefit of the collective.

They were used to thinking, understanding, and even delving into the extremely personal and private revelations of Cultivation as a group.

Just as they were accustomed to fighting as a unit, they were also used to conducting research and production as a group.

...

Silver Sky Island.

The roots of the great tree plunged into the earth, its trunk rising over five hundred meters tall, adorned in the hue of Bluegold. Its canopy stretched beyond a thousand meters in diameter. When the fierce winds blew, Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi and Great Sun Essence from within a fifty-kilometer radius converged upon the canopy, clothing the tree in a mantle of pure, scorching gold, with a dazzling brilliance.

From afar, its radiance shone as if it were the Sun God Wood growing in the East Sea near Fusang.

Beneath the tree, a young man sat cross-legged, breathing in and out, ingesting the refined Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi and Great Sun Essence filtered by the Sun God Wood. After being processed through his meridians and the cyclone in his Elixir Field, he discarded the dross and assimilated the essence, converting it into a tiny drop of Mana that fell into his Elixir Field, slightly increasing its underlying potency.

”Nineteen years later, at the Middle Jindan Stage.”

Jiang Ding opened his eyes, and a flash of brilliant golden light vanished from his pupils.

He faced no bottlenecks, nor did he need any Elixirs or opportunities; hence he had an extremely precise calculation of his Cultivation speed, rarely making mistakes.

”However, compared to when I first became a Golden Pill Monk, there was once a significant deviation from the estimate.”

”I had anticipated breaking through to the Middle Jindan Stage within ten years, over a decade ago.”

Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

His Divine Sense surged into the deep blue mark between his eyebrows, examining it bit by bit, pondering continuously.

It was this deep blue mark, similar to the one on the foreheads of previous generations of Great Sun Swordsmen like Zhong Guangzi, that had slowed his Cultivation speed much more than anticipated.

The Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi drawn into this place seemed to absorb some unknown substance, integrating it.

From his current Divine Sense perspective, this small mark, the size of a fingernail, contained a space as large as one cubic kilometer, allowing only the Taiqing Flying Sword to enter.

With the Taiqing Flying Sword inside, it grew stronger slowly even without doing anything.

If the sword body was damaged or broken, it would repair itself at a faster pace.

”I really despise such unknowns.”

A strong desire for the Great Sun Sword Sect from the Northern Plains surged within Jiang Ding’s heart.

If he could fully inherit the legacy of the Great Sun Sword Sect, perhaps he could solve this problem.

The research progress for the Great Sun Nascent Soul Art might even skyrocket, turning a vast gulf into a mere ditch.

This was entirely justifiable.

After all, the Dari Swordsman already possessed an immensely strong legal standing and claim—how could it be wrong to reclaim what was his own?