Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Chapter 1338: Chapter 1306: Dari Swordsman Visits Xuanwu tiangong

Nine Spirit Realm, Xuanwu Heavenly Palace.

On this day, the mountain gate opened wide, celestial music played in harmony, divine cranes danced in the sky, and golden boys and jade maidens led the way hand in hand. Numerous Heavenly Palace Divine Generals held banners and paving signs to guard the sides, showcasing a grand spectacle of distinguished guests arriving.

Indeed, a distinguished guest had truly arrived.

The tenth strongest in the two domains, the foremost sword cultivator across both, the only Swordsmanship Master, and the sole inheritor of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion—Dari Swordsman himself—had descended upon this place today.

Setting allegiances aside, this Heavenly Monarch’s visit to any Immortal Sect would warrant such an extravagant welcome. It adhered to etiquette for a sect’s Great Experts to personally greet him or send avatars in his stead.

However, for Xuanwu Heavenly Palace to do the same, it came with an air of dark irony.

The Eastern Devil School and Xuanwu Heavenly Palace were mortal enemies spanning generations, adversaries bound by eternal blood feuds. Countless sect disciples from both sides had fallen to their rival’s hands. The corpses accumulated over ten thousand years could fill a mountain, perhaps even pave an entire world.

Jiang Ding walked quietly between Dingding Heavenly Monarch, the Palace Master of Xuanwu Heavenly Palace, and numerous hall masters.

He patiently waited for the lengthy and grand ceremonial proceedings to conclude, showing a degree of respect. He did not, at this moment, annihilate the sect entirely, treating them as mere captives.

“Fellow Daoist Dingding, there is a matter I’m greatly curious about. May I trouble you to enlighten me?”

Jiang Ding softly inquired.

“Under Senior Gui Cong’s orders, the core seeds of Xuanwu Heavenly Palace, including numerous disciples ranging from Nascent Soul to God Transformation Golden Core cultivators in the training of Qi—those skilled in formations, talisman creation, artifact crafting, and the incense-fire path—alongside the Xuanwu Daoist disciples, were ushered into the Heavenly Palace for refuge. Should dire circumstances arise, they could swiftly escape from this domain, preserving hope for the sect.”

“By those standards, as someone hailing from the same era as Senior Divine Machine and possessing a Heavenly Monarch’s status, furthermore as a Palace Master with the potential to ascend to Refining Void, your talent and rank place you among Xuanwu Heavenly Palace’s top three. Why then were you not allowed to enter the Heavenly Palace for sanctuary?”

Here, the ‘Heavenly Palace’ naturally referred to Xuanwu Heavenly Palace’s sect-defining heritage, an ultimate treasure inherited from the Upper Realm.

The Immortal Sects had their Dharma-Ending Cities as a final safeguard to preserve hope. The Eight Great Immortal Sects had similar measures, much like how the Great Sun Sword Pavilion hid numerous Great Sun Flying Sword inheritances throughout the Nine Spirits Realm. When the external environment allowed the growth of these inherited seeds, the pavilion would reemerge, rebuilding itself.

These inherited seeds possessed exceptional concealment capabilities, so much so that even Jiang Ding could not uncover them.

Only when he advanced to Refining Void as the Great Sun Sword Master, fully mastering all secrets of the pavilion, could he uncover and retrieve these concealed inheritance seeds.

“Swordsman, you hold me in too high regard!”

“I dare not compare myself to a domain pride like Senior Divine Machine.”

Dingding Heavenly Monarch froze momentarily, then cupped his hands respectfully towards the heavens and said, “I am but an insignificant cultivator. In the past, I barely managed to converse with Senior Divine Machine under the aegis of the Heavenly Palace’s might. How could I dare to equate myself with a true dragon like him?”

“The notion of having the potential to ascend to Refining Void is merely flattering nonsense uttered by sycophants within the palace. You needn’t take it seriously.”

His demeanor was exceedingly humble, refusing to see himself as someone able to foster connections with figures like Senior Divine Machine or Wanji True Venerate, who were former acquaintances, even foes, treating them strictly with the respect owed to elders.

Jiang Ding was accustomed to such attitudes and thus paid no mind.

The practitioners of the Immortal Sects harbored a profound, soul-deep reverence for high-rank cultivators. Once ascended, a prior peer from equal standing would instantly become a subordinate. Only direct descendants or disciples enjoying personal tutelage could defy this norm; relationships such as uncles or granduncles were considered distant enough to warrant addressing them uniformly as seniors.

“Fellow Daoist, you are excessively humble.”

Jiang Ding responded indifferently, unaffected by Dingding Heavenly Monarch’s submissive posture, and remarked casually, “Earlier, it seemed I asked about your reasons for staying?”

“Indeed, Swordsman.”

“The Heavenly Palace keeps me here simply because of the unavoidable ties to its foundation.”

Dingding Heavenly Monarch felt a shiver in his heart and dared not continue to evade the topic. Maintaining his humble tone, he explained, “This place serves as the site of ancestral worship for our sect. It is home to countless disciples, numbering in the billions; it houses residual heritage, and if the day ever comes when annihilation is inevitable, the Palace Master must fall alongside the sect. It is a sacred duty, earned through the enjoyment of immortal path wealth and privilege as Palace Master.”

“Moreover,”

He cautiously glanced at the green-clothed youth.

“The Supreme Elder has always been confident, convinced that defeat is unlikely, and the sect’s foundations will stand firm. We juniors naturally dare not contradict the elder’s judgment.”

“I see.”

Jiang Ding nodded slightly, understanding.

“Senior Gui Cong has consistently been ruthless, unconcerned about sect disciples. There are times when it appears even Daoist disciples mean little to him; he can be considered a man without vulnerabilities.”

“Such a disposition—cold-hearted and unfeeling—leaves one wondering where the pillar of his immortal path conviction lies.”

“Could it simply stem from an unbridled desire for the Great Dao?”

Dingding Heavenly Monarch pretended not to see or hear anything.

He outright blocked his Divine Sense and vision as if transforming himself into a blind and deaf man, completely disregarding Jiang Ding’s musings.

Jiang Ding saw this but did not comment further.

Those remarks weren’t intended to persuade or manipulate but were merely sentiments arising naturally.

The entire remnant Xuanwu Heavenly Palace, despite boasting billions of disciples, many Nascent Soul Immortals and Spirit Transformation Heavenly Monarchs capable of forming near-seventh-rank formations of immense power, held significance for the palace’s Great Experts but was not particularly vital.

Even if all these practitioners perished, it would take Jiang Ding merely two thousand years to cultivate a comparable cohort anew. Within four to five thousand years, the sect would fully recover—possibly even surpassing its former state.

Trying to use their lives as leverage to force compromise from the Great Experts was purely wishful thinking.

Several hours later, the ceremony concluded.

Numerous Heavenly Palace Divine Generals and golden boys and jade maidens descended.

Among them, several celestial maidens and goddesses stood out, their gazes brimming with allure. Each possessed unmatched beauty in the domain, stunning to the point of breathlessness. Their temperaments ranged from sacred to mischievous, from pure innocence to enchanting seduction, all gazing eagerly at the green-clothed youth, striving to showcase their captivating charm.

“Swordsman.”

Dingding Heavenly Monarch bowed deeply in reverence, saying, “The Heavenly Palace Treasury and hidden caches have all been sealed, awaiting your retrieval. Having traveled such a long way, these treasures are presented as my offering to you. I hope you will not find them unworthy.”

He arranged these many beautiful female cultivators yet did not harbor much expectation, offering everything he could nonetheless.

The surrounding Spirit Transformation Heavenly Monarchs of Xuanwu Heavenly Palace felt bitter envy.

The Heavenly Palace Treasury and hidden caches!

Although the most exceptional batch of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure had surely been taken by the Daoist disciples and Supreme Elder, the remaining wealth still represented an enormous fortune, capable of invoking envy even in Refining Void True Venerates and attracting the attention of Harmonization God Monarchs.

This was wealth left behind by a Domain Overlord!

“Treasury and caches…”

Jiang Ding felt a surge of enthusiasm within.

He was currently very poor—exceptionally poor.

The pace at which he was refining the Taiqing Flying Sword was accelerating. Refining a treasure of the Refining Void Space required resources comparable to mountains and seas, enough to bankrupt or exhaust an entire Immortal Sect. The future presented a grim certainty of impoverishment akin to Xi Yuan’s plight, perhaps even surpassing it in severity.

If he could acquire the Heavenly Palace’s treasury and hidden caches, it would undeniably be a windfall of epic proportions!