Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

”Escape?”

”Those who can’t defeat me usually can’t escape from me either.”

Jiang Ding shook his head and flicked his finger.

Boom!

The Taiqing Flying Sword disappeared from sight, carrying with it a sky full of Sword Intent of Destruction as it sped towards the golden monkey at a velocity far surpassing the speed limit reached by a Middle Jindan Stage cultivator burning Essence Blood.

A bone-chilling coldness emanated from behind.

It was the Soul Destruction Sword, more terrifying than the most venomous of Diabolism’s poisoned swords. Once stabbed by it, death was certain. There was no such thing as severing a tail to survive; the entire body would disintegrate into dust.

”Kill!”

Yellow Leopard roared as he turned around furiously, his eyes blood-red. Under the stimulus of burning Essence Blood, the mana inside his body became erratic. His furry arms’ muscles bulged as he gripped the golden saber tightly and struck downwards behind him.

A sky full of golden saber Qi followed, covering the entire sky.

The Taiqing Flying Sword arrived just in time.

Clang!

The collision of saber and sword created a burst of sparks, followed by the dreadful sound of cracking.

”Damn it!”

”What kind of flying sword is this?”

Yellow Leopard was pushed back hundreds of meters by a tremendous force, with a throbbing pain in his palms and a sharp agony in his Divine Soul.

Looking down, he saw that the palm of his hand holding the saber was already a bloody mess, with drops of fresh blood falling from the sky.

On the blade, there was another deep crack reaching to the back of the saber. The mid-grade treasure saber, which had been refined for hundreds of years, moaned and trembled. Its spiritual light dimmed significantly, and it was nearly on the verge of breaking and disintegrating.

”One more sword strike, and you will die,”

Jiang Ding’s voice came softly, ”Don’t worry, your head will become a part of Tushan Immortal City, serving to deter newcomers like you. It won’t be a waste.”

”With that said, do you feel honored, and that your life has not been in vain?”

”Your Excellency!”

Yellow Leopard felt a deep chill in his heart and said with difficulty, ”I have a background. I am one of the renowned Blood Cloud Eighteen Knights from the Northern Plains.”

”My elder brother is the great cultivator Blood Cloud who is on the verge of reaching the Nascent Soul Stage. He is a figure of high prestige among the loose cultivators of the Northern Plains, who rose from the lower ranks without relying on family background. He has killed Golden Pill cultivators from the twenty-eight clans of the Alliance of Light and Dark several times, and has even escaped from the hands of Nascent Soul Monks of the Liudao Sect.”

”My brother, Blood Cloud, with a righteousness broader than the sky, never bullies the weak outside the twenty-eight clans.”

”This time, it is I who provoked you. If I am defeated, robbed, or injured, he will not intervene.”

”However, I am his blood-sworn brother. Three hundred years ago, we, along with many other brothers and sisters, pledged our brotherhood by cutting our wrists and sharing our blood to jointly resist the Alliance of Light and Dark. Over the centuries, many have passed away, but our bond is deep.”

”If I die, without inquiry into the cause, he will definitely seek vengeance for me.”

”This time I admit defeat and am willing to compensate you fully,”

Yellow Leopard wiped away the Divine Sense Brand from his storage bag and threw it out, saying earnestly, ”This is well known among the cultivators of the Golden Pill Stage in the Northern Plains, there is no lie. I beg you, spare my miserable life.”

”I am willing to take a deadly oath on the Great Dao, never to disclose today’s events.”

”Blood Cloud?”

”A loose cultivator strong enough to rise in the family-ruled Northern Plains?”

Jiang Ding, now known as Immortal Tiankuang, scanned his memories and indeed found the relevant recollections. The various experiences were indeed admirable, and he could not help but exclaim in admiration, ”This person really is a hero, noble without oppressing the weak. How my heart yearns for such a spirit!”

”Your Excellency means...”

Yellow Leopard’s heart leaped with joy.

He had escaped death at the hands of strong opponents several times using this tactic, including Golden Pill cultivators from medium and small families. If it did not affect themselves, they would still let him go, considering his brother’s reputation.

”I mean, you still have to die,”

Jiang Ding revealed a slight smile.

”Such a hero, to kill him without cause would trouble my Dao Heart. I am, after all, a kind person, I can’t do such a thing.”

”However, if he comes looking for me himself, wouldn’t that be a great opportunity?”

”Haha...,”

”Thank you, fellow Taoist. Please go ahead on your way.”

Boom!

The Taiqing Flying Sword’s Sword Intent was fervent and strong, brimming with excitement. The Sword Intent of Destruction permeated in every direction as the sword’s speed suddenly surged, descending mightily upon the head of the golden ape.

”Damn Sword Madman!”

Yellow Leopard cursed in despair, his slightly fervent heart turning ice-cold in an instant as the brutal aura spread out.

”Kill!”

He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, his burning Essence Blood mingling with his Mana to ignite, creating a fierce flame mingled with bloodlight.

The flames spread over the golden fur, sizzling as they ignited flesh and blood. The boundless flames crazily converged towards the golden knife, massively increasing its might, scattering the clouds, with killing intent that was both violent and chilling.

”Die for me!”

Yellow Leopard roared furiously, swinging the knife in its most sublime form. His boundless confidence returned as if he was back in the days when the Blood Cloud Eighteen Knights faced the sieges and hunts of numerous clans.

No matter the hardship, he could always slash through it with a single cut!

Boom!

The knife and sword clashed, flame and Sword Qi collided, Spiritual Light mutually annihilated each other, and they were deadlocked for a moment.

Crack!

Then, a crisp sound shattered all hopes, leaving nothing but an icy chill.

The golden great knife Treasure broke into three pieces, its Spiritual Light completely extinguished, scattering in all directions.

An Azure Flying Sword cleaved through a barely produced pitch-black iron shield Treasure, pierced the fragile barrier, and slashed into the neck of the golden-furred ape, rendering the body touted to be as powerful as a treasure utterly useless.

An endless surge of Destruction Sword Qi flooded inside, destroying all vitality while preserving the body.

”My big brother... will avenge me,”

Yellow Leopard’s eyes dimmed as he spoke his last words on this world, filled with limitless hatred.

The lifeless body fell toward the ground.

Midair, the body halted, and a dim Golden Pill along with an almost dissipating Divine Soul were suspended in front of the young man in green, as the splendid Sword-light retracted.

”Bro, was the Flying Sword influencing me, making me careless? Actually, this guy could have been released,” Jiang Ding said as he placed a high-quality Soul Searching Talisman on the weak Divine Soul, quietly checking it.

”Influence?”

”There’s no influence.”

”I’m still cautious. His big brother is not even at the Nascent Soul stage, I’ve been as cautious as I can be. If I’m any more careful, I’ll have to bury myself in the ground, not caring about anything and letting others take away my riches.”

”Of course, that’s assuming what he said is true.”

A moment later, both the Soul Searching Talisman and the Divine Soul turned to ash, and Jiang Ding gathered the dim Spiritual Light, reading it.

Scenes flashed by, the man’s life rapidly unfolding before his eyes.

”It’s true.”

”This Blood Cloud guy had something. Initially just a Horse Slave of a mortal noble family from the Tianrendao of the Liudao Sect, he made a name for himself in the Northern Plains with a low-level Cultivation Method, the Chaos Scripture, left by a Loose Cultivator. He even managed to escape from a Nascent Soul.”

”Perhaps he had the talent of a Taoist disciple. Of course, due to postnatal education, without an against-Tianji opportunity, his achievements couldn’t come close to those of a Taoist disciple.”

”Like the Six Dao Saint of his memory, achieving Golden Pill before a hundred years old, an Elite under a hundred.”

Jiang Ding said indifferently.

”In the joint research of Xianmen Sect and the Nine Great Immortal Sects, achieving the Golden Pill too early is a path to disaster. The Divine Soul’s experience and the polishing of Mana are inadequate, and in the future, it often takes several times or even ten times longer to compensate, and it’s not guaranteed to succeed.”

”The disciples of the Nine Great Immortal Sects cultivate step by step, not seeking a fast pace of Cultivation. They start slowly and accelerate later, slowly building a foundation towards becoming a Master of Refining Nothingness.”

”Cultivating step by step, even without any great opportunities later in life, they can certainly achieve Divinity Transformation, with a chance of becoming one- or two-tenths of a Master of Refining Nothingness.”

”As for the likes of the Six Dao Saint, reaching the Nascent Soul Peak is very likely their end. With a significant opportunity, they could achieve Divinity Transformation, and then their path will end.”

”This is the postnatal Cultivation education of the Sect, the disparity of the Sect’s background.”