Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

In the Soulless Desert,

Jiang Ding’s figure vanished from sight.

In the Northern Plains, heroes and stalwarts rose and fell amidst the chaos, yet no matter how the situation drastically changed, it could not affect his cultivation.

After confirming each year that the Great Sun Sword Sect hadn’t sprouted legs and run off, his life fell into a regular routine.

Cultivation, refining the Flying Sword, attending classes.

Dividing multiple threads of his Divine Sense to return and participate in various academic conferences, solving various Sword Dao problems encountered during Xianmen Sect’s research processes.

Truth be told, even if the Sword Dao was coldly received in the Xianmen Sect, being the only one proficient in it meant he still had endless projects every year.

Metallurgy, warship design, magic research, and treasure refining projects were all distributed among various areas, demanding a considerable amount of his time and energy, bringing both pain and joy.

Though it was demanding,

in this continuous process of solving practical Sword Dao problems his own foundation in the Sword Dao grew rapidly, and he also amassed some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and library points that would be considered rich even for an Immortal of Nascent Soul.

The Great Sun Nascent Soul Art, as well as projects like Sword Moves Sword Nine and Sword One, were also developing continuously.

As for the Great Sun Nascent Soul Art, there’s no need to mention it.

Zhang Junsheng and a large number of Spirit Transformation Heavenly Monarchs involved because of the library points were working to push this project forward, which would be completed in no more than two thousand years at the latest.

Among them, the Infant Formation teachings from the Divine Souls of Immortal Burning Bone and True Master Yin Jiu, along with the Great Sun Sword Sect cultivation method heritage, played a significant role, saving hundreds of years of research work.

Sword Moves Sword Nine and Sword One were the continuous research and advancement in combining Sword Intent and Sword Moves, as well as the integration of Sword Moves and Sword Qi Thunder Sound.

The Immortal Technique: Destroying Golden Sword was also being explored, but the progress was quite slow.

If there were more cultivation methods from the Righteous and Demonic Alliance’s families, perhaps it could be pushed forward slightly.

The cultivation methods of the Northern Plains families all originated from Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch, which could advance the comprehension project of the Golden Emperor Bathing Beauty.

Unfortunately, members of the Yin’s and the Iron Family refused to get themselves killed honestly, have their souls searched, and thus promote a deeper level of change in the Northern Plains.

For now, there’s no other way, and it must be left to the future.

Year after year, he kept busy, dividing his Divine Sense into seven or eight threads, each with their work, profoundly fulfilling.

And so, time flew by.

Before he knew it, ten years had passed.

...

One day, under the Sun God Wood, Jiang Ding opened his eyes, and the tumultuous oppressive force around him, as well as the turbulent mana in his Elixir Field, gradually settled.

”When was the last time I played a game?”

”It’s been over two hundred years...”

Jiang Ding glanced at the Taiqing Flying Sword, where the second Heavenly Gang Ban was faintly materializing, and suddenly felt a longing.

”Time for gaming.”

The last time he played a computer game must have been in the first or second year of middle school.

After that, schooling became too demanding, and he stopped playing.

After the third year of high school, he went through many battles, faced many deaths, and focused on cultivation, leaving behind the playful heart of his childhood, forgotten.

The last time he played, it seemed to be with Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Ding focused on his Sea of Consciousness, searching through memories from his younger years.

Back then, economic conditions at home were limited, so they played 2D computer games, online games like Sword Immortal and Sword Hero, meeting many interesting people online.

Regrettably, under the ravages of time, all that has since turned to dust.

Jiang Ding’s Divine Sense flickered slightly, bridging a vast distance, as he purchased a retro computer from an old computer store. Using his Divine Sense as his fingers, he tapped on the keyboard a few times, entering the name of that old 2D online game.

A pile of extremely ancient webpages popped up, the newest of which dated back ninety-seven years, featuring a post from a newbie asking about job advancement.

And then there was nothing more.

This game had gone out of business over a hundred years ago, no longer cherished by the people, and could not sustain its operations.

Looking through other newly released 2D online games, there were indeed still some.

With the Xianmen Sect’s large population and vast market, plus the relatively expensive cost of Tai Xu Fantasy Realm’s login pods, companies were still developing and operating these games, turning a profit.

Jiang Ding casually logged in, recharged some Spirit coins, and played for a while, but found it utterly uninspiring.

Many Immortals of Nascent Soul had loved gaming since childhood, a passion enduring through the millennia. Even those who were tightly absorbed in their ashes would emerge early from seclusion every dozen or so years to compete for the championship title.

Take the Sun Extinguisher Heavenly Monarch, for example, who fixated in the prison’s core on how the 1356th championship of the Cultivation Alliance wasn’t his, seemingly snatched away by a player named FishFishFishFish. He was extremely vexed, watching the livestream and thinking her skills were merely mediocre, unworthy even to carry his shoes.

These True Immortals and Heavenly Monarchs still harbored a fervent love for gaming.

Clearly, Jiang Ding was not among them.

Separated by such a vast distance, he could no longer find the feelings from the past when he played.

”Forget it,”

Jiang Ding sighed and put down the keyboard, ”It’s not very interesting. Let’s check on the Sword Dao game I’ve been developing and see what kind of sword dao heroes have emerged after so many years of nurturing.”

His Divine Sense searched, not needing a Tai Xu Fantasy Realm login pod, and quickly found the hottest game of these years, ”Sword Dominance”, and logged into it.

Jiang Ding’s vision blurred.

When he reopened his eyes, he was surrounded by pure whiteness, with only a dark reincarnation entrance remaining.

One could register here, create a character, roll for talents, decide on their background, and deal with matters like their Spiritual Root.

Once confirmed, the system would insert you into the greater world for simulations, where you could choose to enter at different ages such as eight, twelve, or sixteen.

”Not bad...”

Jiang Ding closed his eyes to feel for a moment, then opened them again.

He was no expert in commercial affairs and did not know if this style and game mode would appeal to the citizens of Xianmen Sect. He simply assessed the realism in terms of touch, smell, sight, and Divine Sense, evaluating how closely it resembled reality and how much it could guide his real-life sword cultivation practice.

As of now, the authenticity had reached over ninety-seven percent, justifying the vast amount of Spirit Stones he had invested in development.

It could be said that this sword dao online game was the one with the most funds invested in its development on the market, with at least dozens of Immortals of Nascent Soul participating in the development, and countless Golden Pill and Foundation-building cultivators. The development team was luxuriously formidable.

”Random,”

”Random,”

”...”

After randomly clicking through, a teenager in his early teens appeared before him, with Three Spiritual Roots, a villager of Shallow Water Village, with a nimble talent that increased the speed of drawing his sword with both hands by 5%.

He clicked to enter.

With the world spinning around him, a fishing village appeared before him in no time.

Jiang Ding’s gaze swept around, noting cultivators in the distance controlling their Flying Swords and fighting over Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures before quickly disappearing into the distance.

A group of newbies watched them eagerly, only venturing out of the village to seek their fortune after the fighting cultivators had left.

According to the setup, they would encounter pirates, bullies, scions of rich families, legacies of Loose Cultivators, sect competitions, and guild brawls—all sorts of interesting events on their path. Those with sword talent and wealth could advance their cultivation level and gain a lot within a few years.

This experience of advancing cultivation levels also held strong reference value for the real world.

This was precisely the reason many Immortals of Nascent Soul had developed the game, and why this sword dao online game had topped the charts for years.