Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Two years slowly passed by.

”Senior Mieri, I’m leaving first.”

Jiang Ding waved his hand excitedly.

”Go on, go on.”

Sun Extinguisher Heavenly Monarch felt somewhat gloomy, continuing to work at his station.

These two years were quite joyful for him, having someone to chat with every day, discussing tracking magic, and not feeling lonely even when working or running.

It was even more joyful than being outside, like returning home.

In the next twenty-odd years, he would be alone.

”Don’t worry, Senior,”

Jiang Ding consoled him. ”The last time I heard from Canghai Senior, he said he was coming to visit you soon, in less than a few months. You’ll see him before long.”

Canghai Heavenly Monarch would visit the prison every few months, bringing clothes, food, some money and the like.

Jiang Ding had benefited from this several times and truly envied it.

Uh, he was too embarrassed to tell An Siyan and Jin Lingfeng about going to jail, so he just said he was in seclusion.

For a Golden Pill Monk to be in seclusion for two years was a common occurrence.

”Get lost, get lost, you’re annoying to look at!”

The Sun Extinguisher Heavenly Monarch, impatient, felt he was showing off and hurried him away.

Jiang Ding chuckled.

He no longer teased and walked out of the prison.

Welcoming the sunshine outside, it was springtime, with verdant greenery, flowers in full bloom, and the air fresh, full of the lovely scent of freedom.

Jiang Ding concealed his form and disappeared into the torn space.

After a bit of travel, he returned to Qingfeng University; it seemed another year of new students enrolling and seniors graduating and leaving, a cycle of renewal.

The new students were brimming with enthusiasm, chattering away, tall and strong.

”’Sword Dominance: The Newcomers’ is about to go public. I heard it’s way better than the last version in terms of details. They’re even handing out Golden Dragon and Phoenix Accessories when you log on!”

One round-faced girl said excitedly.

”They’ve added new senior cultivator cave adventures, and it’s actually possible to find a real cave in the real world!”

”I heard that after someone broke the prohibition traps, they found a storage bag, a Pill Furnace, and even the corpse of an old man who had been dead for many years... hiss, could someone really have died here?”

A group of seventeen or eighteen-year-old freshmen discussed with great interest.

”Died my foot,”

Someone rolled their eyes: ”It’s probably just renting some company’s campsite, similar to a room escape but with a larger area, and even the corpse is probably a human simulacrum.”

”Seems like it, I heard that if someone damages one of their prop corpses, they have to pay compensation...”

”That’s impressive too, a Token prop for an adventure cave can sell for tens of thousands of Spirit Coins online, and they’re impossible to find. Only the purple cave tokens are for sale, none of the gold, red, or rainbow ones...”

Jiang Ding paused for a moment.

Being locked up for two years, he had almost no contact with the outside world.

However, as a large company, the Sword Dojo Group had its own organizational system and could operate independently.

Two years ago, he had issued orders and allocated one billion Low-grade Spirit Stones; all arrangements had already begun.

From what he could see now, things seemed to be running quite well.

Jiang Ding connected his Divine Sense to the network, splitting into thousands of threads to rapidly read news and current events from various aspects of Xianmen Sect over the past two years, especially in the area of entertainment.

```

”...At the Mount Huashan Swordplay Contest, the king of the event, Xia Wuqi, made his debut to unprecedented popularity...he claimed the Golden Man Award of this edition...”

”...The prize money for the online game ’Sword Dominance’ swordsmanship ranking contest has increased tenfold, with slots expanding from one thousand to one hundred thousand, and every participant receiving a reward. The event will last for twenty years, attracting as many as 49 billion sign-ups. Many swordsmanship experts have used this opportunity to build wealth, marry into rich and beautiful families, and reach the pinnacle of their lives...”

”...Version update 6.2.55 adjustments as follows, with the addition of cave exploration; cave tokens can be dropped by monsters in the wild, obtained through chance encounters, participation in storylines, and at auction houses. Tokens of purple grade or higher can trigger further story developments...”

”...”

”Not bad,”

Jiang Ding reviewed with his Divine Sense for a moment, feeling fairly satisfied.

The strategy of the Sword Dojo’s planning team was simple: throw money, lots of real, hard cash.

With ten billion Spirit Stones in circulation,

nearly half of the Xianmen Sect’s citizens were attracted, from those who cultivate Qi, to those building their foundation, and Golden Pill Monks; they enthusiastically took part in various sword-related events offering rewards.

The atmosphere of the Sword Dao further permeated and entrenched itself in the hearts of people, becoming a part of the daily life within Xianmen Sect.

Logically, this increasingly rich atmosphere of the Sword Dao would hasten the emergence of Sword Intent Cultivators.

Jiang Ding had spent a lot of time comprehensively understanding the process by which the Great Sun Sword Sect would train Sword Intent Sword Cultivators.

Their methods were brutal, centered on killing and death, using life-and-death situations to prompt a cultivator’s latent potential to erupt, succeed or die trying.

Out of the tens and hundreds of billions of ordinary people, the multitude of deaths would result in at least a few Sword Intent Sword Cultivators emerging every few decades to become core disciples.

Of course, this would be the case without interference from Immortal Burning Bone.

This chaotic and disorderly method of cultivating Sword Intent Sword Cultivators, solely to spawn them, was not in line with Jiang Ding’s moral compass.

”Breakthroughs amidst life and death are the path of evil, a deviant path,”

”The stimulation of death causes cultivators, who could not normally develop Sword Intent, to breakthrough. This isn’t what I need,”

thought Jiang Ding.

”Naturally and spontaneously, when filled to the brim, it overflows,”

”Just as my own Sword Intent breakthrough happened back then, without any stimulation. Events that are meant to happen will happen, and such cultivators are the ones I’m looking for,”

”Those who aren’t suitable shouldn’t embark on this path,”

Now, the changes occurring within Xianmen Sect represented what Jiang Ding considered a more scientifically sound and rational way to cultivate Sword Cultivators.

By continuously enriching the environment of the Sword Dao and sifting through talented individuals in sword arts, providing them with more favorable conditions for growth, the results might not be as immediately visible as those of the Great Sun Sword Sect, yet they were naturally progressive and ongoing. Even without external stimuli, Sword Cultivators would continue to emerge continuously.

His Divine Sense swept through the financial reports and various accounts of the Sword Dojo over the years.

Overall, operations were still running well.

The Sword Dojo’s autonomous body sent back normal feedback; during these years, he hadn’t just been sitting idle, comprehending magic, but also went out to inspect from time to time. He had truly witnessed the physical evidence reported in the documents, with no large-scale deception and hoodwinking from the lower-level managers.

According to the current projections, in eighteen years, the Sword Dao will within the Tai Xu Fantasy Realm should reach the volume needed by Heavenly Monarch Wanji, with an additional fifty percent margin for error.

”Hard work,”

”Everyone has done a good job these past two years,”

Jiang Ding replied.

”Award everyone a bonus, and grant a period of vacation so we all can meet the upcoming challenges of the next eighteen years in top condition,”

Putting aside his work,

Jiang Ding returned to his lodgings on Silver Sky Island.

Nothing had changed; the entire island was still decrepit and riddled with holes, damaged by the tribulation of the Taiqing Flying Sword’s Nascent Treasure. As it represented a part of his past, he couldn’t be bothered to repair it.

Jiang Ding sat cross-legged, with the Sun God Wood rising from the ground behind him, casting shadows that blotted out the sky, radiant with gold light, amassing vast amounts of Great Sun Essence and Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi, entering into a state of cultivation.