Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Chapter 1312: Chapter 1280: The Complete Legacy of Near Immortal Powers?

After Jiang Ding ascended to the Divinity Transformation Stage, he had been rather despondent.

There was no way around it. After his ascension, especially after his Taiqing Flying Sword endured the Heavenly Tribulation of the Refining Void Space Treasure, he felt an immense void in his heart, falling into a state of despair even darker than Xi Yuan back in the day.

Yes, a touch of despair.

Back then, at least Xi Yuan had the Eight Great Immortal Sects and a weak but exceedingly promising faction to look forward to—a glimmer of hope for the future.

Though poor—indeed, desperately poor—life was not completely untenable.

But what about him?

He was far stronger than Xi Yuan in those days!

This was indisputable. The histories of the Nine Great Immortal Sects and the Great Sun Sword Pavilion clearly recorded the strength of each generation’s Dari Swordsman and the progression of Immortal Dao Technology.

If Xi Yuan back then was barely scraping by, how could Jiang Ding fare any better?

Most likely, he wouldn’t even have a pot to scrape!

From that day forward, there would no longer be competitors in his domain at the same cultivation stage—this was the despair of a Sword Cultivator.

Either his enemies were far too strong to be challenged, or far too weak—they were but ants, obliterated with a flick of his finger, unable even to catch his notice, let alone command his focus.

Without true opponents, his Swordsmanship and Sword Dao could no longer rapidly improve.

“Hahaha…”

Jiang Ding burst into uncontrollable laughter, his gaze blazing with a strange warmth as it rested on the Nine Great Daoists.

He had once scoffed at Xi Yuan’s indulgence in allowing the Eight Great Immortal Sects and Xianmen Sect to grow unchecked, deeming it an incredibly foolish act that directly led to Xi Yuan’s eventual demise and the destruction of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion.

Yet as he climbed further in power and his adversaries grew weaker and weaker, Jiang Ding—

—had begun to understand.

“You’re on the brink of madness. Sooner or later, you’ll slaughter your way through the Eastern Devil School.”

The Taoist of Five Elements, An Tuzi; Ji Liuyue; Shadow Demon Daoist, and the others glared back coldly, their expressions dripping with malice as they attempted to sow discord.

In their hearts, however, was a bitter sense of resignation.

What kind of cursed streak had they been born into!

A Great Sun Sword Pavilion had emerged beside them, endlessly hunting them down generation after generation in an unrelenting, undying vendetta—one that could neither be mitigated by compromise nor soothed by any amount of bargaining. There was no peace, not for a single moment, for all eternity.

After the destruction of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, everything should have ended.

Many elders said they were born in a fortunate era, no longer needing to endure the indignities suffered by the previous Daoist disciples, who, though primarily practicing Magic Cultivation, were left scrambling and humiliated.

They were meant to bask high in grand towers, their flowing sleeves billowing, traveling from the Northern Sea at dawn to the Cangwu Mountains at dusk, overlooking all the transience of the human world from their lofty perch—untouched by the dust of fleeting ages.

Such was the life a Taoist disciple ought to live!

Not like them, living days far more wretched than Sword Cultivators—endlessly battling or treading toward battle, faced with life-or-death confrontations at every moment. The entire sect—every single member—was on edge, their Divine Souls stretched taut, not daring to so much as relax internally or externally.

“No,”

“It’s not just that you’ve comprehended the laws of a Virtual Order.”

“Even your Life Flying Sword has broken through to the Refining Void Space Treasure!”

The Heavenly Calculator Daoist’s eyes gleamed with divine light, his expression shifting dramatically as he suddenly spoke.

The Heavenly Mechanism Immortal Palace, second only to the Eastern Devil School in intelligence gathering within the Nine Spirits Realm, reigned supreme in Tianji divinations. Few secrets could escape their scrutiny.

Refinement Void Level, Great Sun Flying Sword!

Virtual Order!

The surrounding Daoists felt their scalps tingle.

This generation’s Dari Swordsman was simply too extraordinary—his strength had grown terrifyingly beyond their calculations and predictions with every ascension.

“Indeed, it’s true.”

Jiang Ding’s manic smile softened slightly, leaving him in slightly better spirits. With a faint smile, he said, “The strength of you nine Daoist Fellows has also exceeded my expectations. Last time, when you faced the Netherworld Ancient Prince, none of you displayed such prowess. It seems you’ve achieved some kind of breakthrough.”

He understood these nine individuals more intimately than they did themselves—as if they stood before him completely bare.

By all logic, such a dramatic improvement should be impossible.

Because the development of Magic Cultivators was not highly correlated with war; on the contrary, they deeply loathed and eschewed it.

“What has changed?”

“Did you obtain some strategic-level Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure?”

“Did you inherit the legacies of the Ancient Divine Path?”

“Or perhaps there’s been some monumental breakthrough in Immortal Dao Technology, or maybe…”

Jiang Ding scanned these old friends carefully, one speculation after another spilling forth as his gaze narrowed upon them. “Or could it be that an Upper Realm Immortal Sect has fallen entirely, and that among you, a specific faction has emerged as the strongest among its many ‘seeds,’ thereby beginning to fully inherit the sect’s entire Upper Realm legacy?”

“Could such a thing be possible?”

“If it is indeed so, then I’m envious enough to grind my back teeth into powder. How has the Great Yin Yang Sword Realm not yet perished, granting me its complete inheritance? Or perhaps it has been destroyed, but its legacy discriminates exclusively against the Great Sun lineage? Do they hold animosity toward us solitary souls?”

“What insolence!”

Jiang Ding suddenly erupted in rage.

Trash like the Eight Great Immortal Sects could earn the inheritance of the Upper Realm, yet he, the master of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, whose strength surpassed any singular Daoist disciple, was met with nothing but inequity.

What sheer inhuman audacity!

The Dari Swordsman regained his exuberance, swept up in whimsical prattle as he voiced a cascade of possibilities, speculating endlessly about the changes in the Nine Great Daoists.

Swish!

A flurry of gazes immediately converged on the Xuanwu Daoist.

His power had skyrocketed in recent years. After advancing to the mid-stage of Spirit Transformation, his comprehension of the laws of Order had greatly accelerated, and the potency of Order’s power far surpassed that of previous generations of Xuanwu Daoists—his transformation was strikingly evident.

Originally, some had attributed this to a fortuitous Sudden Enlightenment, a not-uncommon phenomenon, especially among Daoist disciples. This time, however, perhaps fortune had simply favored him more than others, granting unprecedented opportunities.

But… could there be another explanation?

Innumerable Daoists harbored deep caution in their hearts.

If a sect somewhere had secured the entirety of an Upper Realm inheritance while others hadn’t, potential sect-annihilation threats could very well resurface in the near future.

None understood better than they the terror evoked by a complete Near Immortal-level inheritance—it would rival, or perhaps even surpass, the Eastern Devil School as a new foe.

“Ridiculous.”

“Jiang Dingzi, Daoist Brother, it’s been a while. You’ve grown increasingly cunning.”

The Xuanwu Daoist shook his head lightly, then turned to glance at his companions. “Just moments ago, you were all prattling about how Jiang Dingzi’s Life Flying Sword had broken through the Great Sun Destruction Rule, and that his manic obsession with annihilation was driving him to rampage through the Eastern Devil School. Warned Bone Forest’s Heavenly Monarch to prepare and stay vigilant. Yet now, when it comes to me, your thoughts diverge so wildly?”

“Truly, it seems we lack even the minimal mutual trust present within the Eastern Devil School.”

He sighed with helplessness.

He offered no explanations—fundamentally, the speculations were fabrications.

A cultivator’s surge in cultivation base was utterly normal; was it not?

He possessed the Xuanwu Vajra Dao Body, one of the absolute pinnacle aptitudes among the realms, and had fought his way from the Heavenly Palace, surviving countless battles between domains. His talent was second to none—achieving a Sudden Enlightenment was the most natural occurrence.

Where was there any external power involved? Truly, the Dari Swordsman was an incorrigible scoundrel, utterly underestimating the caliber of the Daoist disciples.

“Daoist Brother?”

Jiang Ding blinked in surprise.

It was, indeed, the first time he had been addressed as “Daoist Brother” by one of their number.

Though, admittedly, it was perfectly reasonable.

The Xuanwu Daoist had already been killed by him twice, and the successor Daoists were indeed younger than the others by three or four centuries—a negligible difference for Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Yet…

“Xuanwu!”

“You damned turtle dare insult me!”

Jiang Ding’s expression turned deathly cold. “I, your lord, am eternally sixteen years old—not anyone’s ‘Daoist Brother.’ Are you out of your mind? I’ve done nothing to slight you, and yet you insult me baselessly.”

“Given your rudeness and lack of decorum, you’re better off dead.”

Boom!

A resplendent Great Sun ascended into the void.

The brilliance of six Orders illuminated the heavens. Appearing fragmented, they manifested as distinct facets of a unified solar presence, exuding dread-inducing forces of annihilation and Destruction Rules. The blazing willpower of unyielding destruction descended ferociously, crushing everything beneath its celestial flood.