Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Pain intertwined in myriad threads within the Lake of Heart, where it emerged only to be suppressed by the Sword Intent of Destruction, not allowing it to affect one’s true nature.

The next moment, a scene appeared before Jiang Ding.

It was a boy practicing swordsmanship in Shallow Water Village, age eleven or twelve, not yet an adult, logging into ”Sword Dominance” every day, tirelessly practicing the village’s signature Basic Sword Skills, the ”Fish-Slaying Sword Skill,” with the systematic help, until the game time limit for minors was reached.

His dream was to be admitted to the Adult Sword Dao Department, to become the handsome and dashing Sword Immortal from television and movies.

”This is good, the youth of the Xianmen Sect have new dreams...”

Jiang Ding said to himself as his eyes blurred momentarily.

In an instant, he became that boy, practicing sword night and day, harboring naive dreams, curious about everything, completely forgetting his own past of over two hundred years.

Clang!

The resonant sound of the Taiqing Flying Sword.

”The residual Sword Dao will of Scorching Sun Spirit Iron...”

The influence was minor, and Jiang Ding’s eyes regained their clarity.

The will of a mortal is trivial for a Golden Pill Monk, but after being precipitated in the Tai Xu Fantasy Realm and undergoing the tempering and purification in the Factory No. 1 of Scorching Sun Spirit Iron, through various processes, it could cause most Nascent Soul Monks to deviate and go mad, which was extremely dangerous.

This was the bane of Scorching Sun Spirit Iron, as well as the reason for the existence of the Taiyin lineage within the Daymoon Sword Pavilion in contrast to the Great Sun lineage.

”All this... is nothing special.”

Jing Ding said nonchalantly.

His Divine Soul and Sword Intent voluntarily submerged into those lingering Sword Dao wills, scene after scene flitting before his eyes; the boy’s sword training, the girl’s guild skirmishing, the old amateur ninth-dan Swordsman’s pursuit of the Sword Dao dream before death...

And so on, falling into his heart, confusing him for a little while, before they were ground to pieces, devoured by both the Taiqing Flying Sword and Sword Intent of Destruction, with both Sword Intent and Flying Sword growing by a minuscule amount.

More than a month passed by slowly.

Jiang Ding, sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes that revealed a restless killing intent. The Sword Intent of Destruction, barely discernible, seeped out from within him, becoming more fierce, more maniacal, as if seeking prey to devour, to quench the sword’s blade with the blood of the powerful, calming the tumult within him.

”Not bad,”

”I have indeed been affected.”

Jiang Ding said with a headache, ”No wonder the Dari Swordsmen across generations seemed bloodthirsty and mad, greedily yearning to kill any Cultivator in sight whose strength was worthy of respect.”

”I thought these were all prejudices, stereotypes.”

”Turns out, that’s actually a part of their sword training regimen.”

”But, I don’t need that. I’m so strong, how could I possibly need the blood of others to restrain myself? I am sufficient on my own.”

Jiang Ding consoled himself.

”This is normal.”

”The Sword, by its very nature, is sharp and inherently dangerous. The practice of the Daymoon Sword Pavilion is to be safe, but in doing so, the edge has been dulled, blunted. It would be better to fight with a stick than that.”

After a moment of closed-eye meditation to calm the restless killing intent towards all living beings,

Jiang Ding opened his eyes and looked at the Taiqing Flying Sword before him.

The burning gold liquid that the Scorching Sun Spirit Iron had transformed into had been completely absorbed, leaving only a bit of dark brown metallic shell encasing the sword body.

With a slight vibration, the hard shell turned to powder and burst apart.

Jiang Ding collected it and found a deep pit to seal and bury it.

This thing was quite dangerous.

If a Golden Pill Monk were to visit and accidentally touch it, they might very well experience mana contamination and risk falling into the state of deviating into madness.

The hard shell shed, revealing a sword body that was thoroughly crimson and in a critical state perfect for refining.

Jiang Ding did not dare to delay. He took out number ten Synthetic Gengjin and twenty tons of tungsten mine, smelted them in the Sword Domain created by the Sun Flame Crystal and the Dyson Mirror Surface into a fist-sized lump of Mysterious Gold Liquid. Using Divine Sense and Sword Intent as a brush, he inscribed the second Great Sun God Forbidden Heavenly Gang Ban into the Taiqing Flying Sword.

Mana and Sword Intent poured in, each stroke precise beyond compare, far surpassing a photolithography machine, gradually sketching out the ban’s runes and imbuing the ban with spirit.

Jiang Ding sealed off all incoming information, concentrating wholly as if he were lifeless wood or weathered stone, unmoving.

After about a year, time slowly passed, and the final rune was inscribed.

Hum!

The Taiqing Flying Sword rang out clearly, releasing a brilliant light, and two Heavenly Gang Bans within it emerged, shining brightly, boosting the sword’s aura significantly.

After thirty-four years, the second Heavenly Gang Ban was complete!

”It was not easy, really damn difficult...”

Jiang Ding sighed.

One ban represented half a lifetime for a Qi Practitioner.

The chasm between High-Level Cultivators and Low-ranking Cultivators is immense, almost representing two entirely different species.

No wonder High-Level Cultivators often regard Low-ranking Cultivators as ants, with a new generation constantly emerging each year, an endless supply of ants.

Even with a refining speed that was already fast among Nascent Soul Monks, it took the likes of Divine Crow Immortal, an old Nascent Soul of many years, an average of two hundred years to refine a single Heavenly Gang Ban; their talents, genius, and resources were insufficient.

”Thirty-four years, it’s far too long.”

”There are eighteen Heavenly Gang Bans at the Nascent Treasure stage, one for a lower-grade Nascent Treasure, six for a mid-grade Nascent Treasure, twelve for an upper-grade Nascent Treasure, and eighteen for a peak-grade Nascent Treasure.”

”Eighteen bans, thirty-four years each, that means... six hundred and twelve years. That’s the original speed, not accounting for the fact that Cultivators fight, get imprisoned, handle state affairs, and deal with all sorts of messy issues, which means things can’t always go as one wishes.”

”Now, with Scorching Sun Spirit Iron...”

Jiang Ding calculated in his mind.

”Eight years.”

”It will only take eight years for me to refine a single Heavenly Gang Ban!”

”The efficiency is more than four times the original!”

”The Taiqing Flying Sword and I are both outstanding; there are no bottlenecks. That means it will take a total of... one hundred and twenty-eight years to reach the pinnacle of Nascent Treasures!”

”Impressive!”

Jiang Ding was even astonished in his heart.

Just over a hundred years to traverse the Nascent Treasure refining time that other Immortals of Nascent Soul take a millennium to accomplish, tenfold efficiency, truly frightening.

”To reach the middle stage of Nascent Treasures... I’m only short by four Heavenly Gang Bans, which will take thirty-two years.”

”It will be soon, and by then my strength will have improved.”

Jiang Ding nodded in satisfaction.

He took out ten Moon Creek Crystals, which transformed into streams of icy mist covering the thoroughly crimson body of the Taiqing Flying Sword; amidst a sizzling sound, the sword’s body recovered its Bluegold luster, its toughness and sharpness reaching a new level.

Clang!

The Taiqing Flying Sword shot into the ground and burst forth from the earth with a booming sound, once again assuming the form of the towering Sun God Wood, drawing in the Spiritual Energy and Great Sun Essence from a radius of nearly a hundred kilometers to heal the damages sustained during the refining process.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes.

As he entered a state of Cultivation, he also expanded outward with his Divine Sense, dividing it through the Xianmen network to various Sword Dao research threads and academic conference threads, deeply engaging in various research projects of the Xianmen Sect.

Other than the first time using Scorching Sun Spirit Iron, he was always able to multitask, ensuring no progress in any area was delayed.