Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

”I’ve reached the limit…”

”Just three years.”

Jiang Ding sighed.

In legend, the child of a True Immortal is nurtured for nine thousand years, born after nine thousand years, and reaches adulthood in another nine thousand years.

It’s unknown when one could reach such a realm.

It’s still far off now.

A Golden Pill Monk at this stage, the next step is for the Nascent Soul to tear through the fetal membrane and appear between heaven and earth.

”Tear,”

”I tear, I tear tear tear…”

Jiang Ding’s Divine Soul, transformed into a tiny Nascent Soul, stood on the three-inch-long Taiqing Flying Sword, puffed out his cheeks, and his small, white hands tried hard, harder, and even harder to tear the sword’s fetal membrane to be born.

This process is not difficult; most Nascent Soul Monks easily cross this threshold.

”Tear!”

”I tear…”

Jiang Ding felt his face was about to turn blue with effort.

But the sword’s fetal membrane was tougher than Divine Gold; no matter how hard he tried, it could not be torn apart. This membrane and the Taiqing Flying Sword were of the same origin, and one simply couldn’t use the sword’s edge on it.

”Can’t tear it off…”

Jiang Ding’s little face fell in dismay.

In this state of life, he was unprecedentedly young and tender, like he had gone back to his early years, playing by his mother’s side.

”If it can’t be torn, then don’t tear.”

Jiang Ding’s expression regained its calm.

In the face of danger, centuries of experience took over instinct, no longer influenced by it.

”Then, just go out directly!”

Whoosh!

Jiang Ding’s body suddenly stiffened, and from his forehead, a round and brightly shining Golden Pill flew out, hot and dazzling with a tiny figure and a tiny Flying Sword visible inside.

This shining Golden Pill faced the sky nine thousand kilometers across, dark as ink, dense with flickering lightning snakes.

It actively charged towards the heavens!

Boom!

The moment the Golden Pill emerged, a terrifyingly powerful, distinctly Divinity-infused azure-purple thunderbolt, like a sharp sword, harnessed the momentum of heaven and earth, its thunder Domain reigning down, causing many Heavenly Monarchs to change their expressions slightly.

”The Golden Pill, no, the Nascent Soul, is actively facing the Heavenly Tribulation!”

”This is too dangerous!”

”It severely violates the taboo of transcending the tribulation! Moreover, it’s after the Nascent Soul has fully formed, and after the Internal Demon Tribulation, that the Heavenly Tribulation should descend. This isn’t right…”

Immortal Lei Sheng’s eyes widened.

The Nascent Soul, especially a newly born one, is extremely fragile and often requires decades of nurturing before it can leave the body to seize another. Thus, newly born Nascent Soul Monks usually enter seclusion for decades, which has almost become a standard practice.

Now, this practice has been broken!

An Siyan, Jin Lingfeng, and others also felt a fierce tug at their hearts.

The azure-purple thunderbolt dissolved space, silently falling and carrying the executioner’s will of heavenly and earthly punishment, the annihilation descending all at once, leaving one frozen stiff as in an ice pit, able to do nothing but brace for execution.

Yet the glittering Golden Pill paid no heed to its majesty, meeting the thunderbolt of the sky head-on, on a collision course with its lightning.

Azure-purple and glittering gold lights abruptly collided!

Boom!

The world suddenly brightened!

Thunderous roars spread in all directions, space was layer by layer destroyed and dissolved, a force capable of executing all spirits of heaven and earth. The heavens and earth, unfeeling, without love or hatred, thundered in motion, erasing any anomaly from the world.

Crack!

In that annihilating lightning, the spark of life had not dissipated.

”How is it?”

Everyone held their breath and strained their eyes to see.

They saw that the destructive lightning had spread across the entire glittering fetal membrane like a spider web. Accompanied by a crisp cracking sound, the Divine Gold-made fetal membrane suddenly shattered, breaking into myriad golden fragments scattering in all directions.

Amidst the scattered golden stars, a Nascent Soul gradually became visible.

He was half the size of a palm, with tender white skin and black hair, looking exactly like Jiang Ding, with eyes slightly closed, by his side, tightly nestled a Blue-Gold Flying Sword, almost as tall as himself.

The next moment, like a mirage, the Nascent Soul merged into the Flying Sword, becoming indistinguishable from it.

The Nascent Soul was the sword, and the sword was also the Nascent Soul.

If the sword existed, so would the person, and if the sword perished, the person would surely die.

Whoosh!

The Taiqing Flying Sword instantly returned to the Elixir Field before the second Heavenly Tribulation appeared.

The vast Mana and the Nascent Soul Stage Divine Soul spread out in all directions, causing Jiang Ding’s Law Body’s skin and flesh to tremble, his bones to creak, and Mana within the meridians to race wildly, expelling tainted blood from his body.

This was the qualitative change of the Law Body under the influence of the Nascent Soul Stage Divine Soul and Mana!

The qualitative change at the Nascent Soul level!

This was also the fundamental reason why Cultivators could extend their lives to one thousand two hundred years and be called gods upon the earth.

The essence of life was changing, and the Law Body was evolving rapidly and dramatically.

At the same time, confusion appeared in Jiang Ding’s eyes.

”This is right, this is how it should be!”

”After the Mana and Divine Soul transform, comes the Internal Demon Tribulation. A myriad years of time condensed into a moment. Once it’s passed, one can welcome the Heavenly Tribulation. Fail, and the Divine Soul dissipates, turning six hundred years of the Dao into nothing…”

Immortal Lei Sheng exhaled a sigh of relief.

If this had continued to be upended, even his Dao Heart might have become unstable, and after a millennium of study, the pursuit on which he had staked his life, honor, and future path, it now seemed that reality was not as he had understood it to be, and anyone would be afraid.

...

A hazy grey fog appeared and then dispersed, revealing the scene inside a family home in Rongcheng City.

”Dingding, it’s time to eat!”

”The stir-fried pork with folded ear root that you made is still on the stove, bring it over on your way.”

Lin Wanqiu brought a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes to the dining table and shouted loudly, reprimanding on the side, ”Xiaoyuan, stop watching cartoons all day long, you never do anything but watch cartoons, and your grades are poor, only scoring fifty-nine points this time...”

”Mom, you’re wrong.”

”I do work!”

Jiang Yuan, unwilling to accept the criticism, yelled back, ”I bought the vegetables for lunch, the tomatoes you just used were leftover from noon.”

”What about your grades?”

Lin Wanqiu glared at her.

”Ah... this... this”

Instantly losing her bold front, Jiang Yuan tried to divert the topic, ”Well... I saw others say online that elementary school grades are not that important; they’re misleading. The real grades start to show in middle school.”

”Mom, don’t worry, I am a genius whose real talent is obscured by elementary school grades. Once I’m in middle school, I will surely soar to great heights, scoring full marks in every subject!”

She was full of confidence.

”Humph! Soar to great heights? Don’t think I don’t know...”

Lin Wanqiu snorted coldly.

”Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

”Let’s talk after we finish eating, Mom, Xiaoyuan, the food’s getting cold.”

Jiang Ding brought back a plate of stir-fried pork with folded ear root and hurriedly tried to smooth things over, otherwise, today’s meal would be another chaotic scene where peace is an elusive dream.

The family bantered at the dining table, also discussing matters related to studies and daily life.

”Dingding, did you get hurt while practicing with the sword yesterday?”

Lin Wanqiu asked.

”Mmm, a minor injury, it’s already been dressed.”

Jiang Ding answered vaguely while eating, genuinely indulging in the familiar and dear flavor that he hadn’t tasted for a long time.

”Actually, there’s no need to work so hard on your studies and sword training,”

Lin Wanqiu consoled, ”It’s not good to be a slacker who plays every day at school like Xiaoyuan, but it’s also not right to be obsessively practicing swords and studying like you. I’m aware of our family’s martial way talent; it’s just average, and you’re not going to become a cultivator anyway.”

”It’s enough to work a little harder so it can guarantee a comfortable life with no worries about food and clothing in the future.”

”Besides, doesn’t television and books say that high-level cultivators also have lots of worries and are not very happy, just like us ordinary people?”

”Mmm mmm, Mom makes sense.”

Jiang Ding nodded with a smile.

”Then you’re not allowed to practice swordsmanship tomorrow; it’s fine to take a day off.”

Lin Wanqiu stated authoritatively.

”Mmm, okay.”

To everyone’s surprise, Jiang Ding didn’t argue and agreed.

This made Lin Wanqiu very happy, and she served him more food.

After dinner, the family went out for a walk, chatting with familiar neighbors they hadn’t seen in many years. Everything was so novel and intoxicating.

The next day, as promised, Jiang Ding abstained from sword practice.

The third day, the fourth day, and even an entire month went by just the same.

Once a person relaxes, it’s easy to find excuses to convince oneself, gradually giving up the effort, with every excuse sounding quite sensible.

Months later, he completely abandoned sword training.

The clear sky, a fleeting glance of inky darkness blinked by.

Just like that, Jiang Ding sailed smoothly through his senior year of high school, graduated without getting admitted to the Cultivation Department, entered a run-of-the-mill second-tier university, got married, had children, respected his elders, and lived in harmony.

Until the very last moment of his life.

Jiang Ding remained content.

Looking at the room full of his children and grandchildren, he told his eldest son, ”I don’t have any regrets about my life. Although it was utterly ordinary and plain, it was a happy one, and with all of you, there’s nothing left to desire...”

”Dad! Grandpa!”

Around the bed, dozens of children and grandchildren bawled their eyes out, deeply emotional.

”No regrets... yeah, right.”

Jiang Ding, dragging his old, weary body, slowly stood up.

The septuagenarian children and grandchildren around, wide-eyed.

”Yeah, right.”

”My friend, the Internal Demon, is this all?”

Old man Jiang, dragging his sickly body, stood on the bed, smiling faintly as if he had just witnessed something utterly amusing, ”Have you gone daft? My mom and my sister are still in the Sleeping Hidden Realm; what regrets could I possibly have?”

”You pull this stunt on me?”

”Dad...”

The sobbing and deeply grieved children and grandchildren around him suddenly froze, their bodies stiffening.

”Who’s your dad?”

”Do you qualify?”

Jiang Ding shook his head, smiling.

With a flick of his fingers, the Blue-Gold Sword Qi burst forth, and numerous figures had a line of blood appear on their throats, gradually fading into nothingness.

Bang!

The illusion shattered, revealing a darkened sky.

Within that pitch-black canopy, an immense demon spider towering into the sky, filling the Star River, stood erect, its eighteen pairs of profound eyes ceaselessly moving, staring intently this way.