Chapter 1090: Nascent Soul Peak

A time scale of a little over ten years.

In the life of a Nascent Soul cultivator, it is rather brief—just ordinary cultivation time, and it passes.

Jiang Ding's daily routine was cultivation, refining his flying sword, cooperating with the various Canghai Tianjun research projects of the Immortal Gate, and keeping constant watch over the Northern Plains—especially the starry sky beyond the Da Ri Ding Gao Jie formation.

Also, keeping an eye on the location of Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun, to prevent him from absconding with the funds.

Although Jiang Ding is now very wealthy and doesn't care much about that money, he hates being toyed with by others, and moreover is accustomed to keeping his promises—if he says he will kill someone, he will definitely kill them, without fail.

On this day, a great wind rose and clouds surged above the Dayang Dayang Tianchi Sun Abyss.

Wild winds blew, and spiritual qi from ten thousand li rolled in; sunlight illuminated the world, then gathered toward the hundred-meter-tall Sun Divine Tree, continuously converging, until at last everything merged into the dantian of the blue-robed youth beneath the tree.

At last, all auras calmed.

That blue-robed youth's aura surged upward in a single leap, finally reaching its peak—his cultivation could advance no further.

"Nascent Soul Peak!"

Jiang Ding opened his eyes.

His dazzling golden light flashed and vanished, shooting two beams of golden sword-light outward that melted two deep, pitch-black holes into the void, which the space could not heal for a long time.

This was the overflow of power accumulated over years of cultivation.

"A thousand years of cultivating the Dao…"

"No! What the hell—I must have been influenced by that damned sharp-tongued Chong Chong Guang Zi."

Jiang Ding violently shook his head and declared loudly: "This lord has cultivated for a little over ten years, ascending to Nascent Soul Peak at the age of sixteen!"

"Sixteen years old, Nascent Soul Peak!"

"Tell me—is there anyone in the world stronger than this genius?"

"There isn't!"

"Absolutely not!"

"In the world, who else could compare to this lord?"

Jiang Ding summoned a mirror and admired himself with great satisfaction.

"Yue, wouldn't you say so?"

After a while, he asked again.

"Chun Jian Zi, I can't bring myself to say it—please, really, don't be like this…"

Yue covered her face.

She felt she could never face the successive patriarchs again.

"Oh, forget it then, don't say it—I don't want to hear it."

"Understood."

Yue closed her mouth with a look of utter hopelessness.

Clang!

The Taiqing Flying Sword unsheathed at this moment, flying out from the Da Ri Sword Domain space in his brow, blooming with immeasurable radiance, illuminating the entire Dayang Dayang Tianchi, falling into every corner of the pool.

Upon that blue-gold sword body, thirty-six rune-formed blazing great stars hovered, rotating continuously along intricate three-dimensional orbits, spontaneously inhaling and exhaling endless spiritual qi and the essence of the great sun, like thirty-six living stars blooming, casting their radiance upon the

heavens and earth.

Thirty-six Sun Divine Prohibitions!

Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits, Great Perfection!

This great sun flying sword, the Taiqing Flying Sword, had unmistakably reached the peak of a Primordial Spirit treasure—just like its master, becoming the finest of quasi-Emperor weapons, unable to advance a single step further.

"Soul Transformation—what a sight that will be…"

Jiang Ding Zi murmured.

A longing rose within him, from his heart, from the Taiqing Flying Sword's intense desire to transcend, to become an Emperor weapon.

At the same time, an enlightenment also arose in his heart.

Breaking through to Soul Transformation would surely succeed.

The Taiqing Flying Sword, however, had only a slim chance of becoming an Emperor weapon within the Lei Gao Jie—a Void Refinement-grade spatial sword, wielding the power to sever the force of rules.

"A slim chance?"

Jiang Ding's heart gradually calmed, awakening from the feverish longing for the Great Dao.

The deep foundation of the Great Sun Sword Child, combined with the complete Great Sun Soul Transformation secret art—which he had already improved to suit himself better.

Under such conditions, he would surely achieve Soul Transformation; there would be no accident.

However, the Taiqing Flying Sword would not break through.

This flying sword, which condensed the wisdom of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion and the Immortal Gate's highest immortal Dao achievements, had already reached the pinnacle just below an Emperor weapon, unable to take a single step further—unless the future sword master ascended to Void Refinement.

"Chun Jian Zi, have you shaken off the longing for the Great Dao?"

Yue's voice came through.

"Yes."

Jiang Ding replied calmly, not angry at why she hadn't warned him in advance, awakening him midway.

A cultivator's Great Dao must ultimately take the cultivator as its subject; outsiders can only assist, and cannot replace the cultivator in deciding which path to take at the major crossroads of life.

One must choose for oneself, and have no regrets either way.

"Have you discovered the reason?"

Yue asked again.

"It is because of the Taiqing Flying Sword."

Jiang Ding answered briefly: "I discovered that the Taiqing Flying Sword cannot break through together with me—this has never appeared in past cultivation. Is it because the distance between Void Refinement and a quasi-Emperor is too vast, such that the Soul Transformation heavenly tribulation has lost its promoting effect?"

"Yes, that is exactly it."

"Sword Son, this is also the common difficulty encountered by every previous Great Sun Sword Master."

Yue explained gently: "Many Sword Masters at the peak of Nascent Soul were not as strong as you. Some Sword Masters at the peak of Nascent Soul had their Great Sun Flying Sword only barely step into the threshold of a quasi-Emperor weapon, not having gone much further, let alone reaching the extreme of a quasi-Emperor weapon like you have."

"These Sword Sons who are not strong enough, we need not pay them any heed; they have no chance at all."

"Referring to history, the strongest Great Sun Sword Master was Zou Zou Xiyuan. He reached the same state as you at the peak of Nascent Soul,

but he reached it after a thousand years of slumber."

"Chong Chong Guang Zi seemed even stronger, but he had no chance to put it into practice."

"This is the difficulty you face."

Yue said expectantly: "Sword Son, your flying sword has fused the crystallized wisdom of immortal Dao from the highest echelons of the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect and the Sword Pavilion. I suggest you do your best to comprehend the power of Order during the Nascent Soul stage—not the kind of external Order from the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect... well, the sword sheath, but rather the kind of Order that was born spontaneously within you."

"A Nascent Soul cultivator who possesses the power of Order, after surviving the great Soul Transformation tribulation, will find their power of Order grow even stronger. It is even possible that at the Hua Shen Zhong Qi stage they could escape from a Void Refining cultivator."

"A you like that, upon ascending to Void Refining, would immediately become a sovereign among Void Refining cultivators. One person, one sword, could sweep clean the entire Nine Spirit Domain along with Jiao Jiao Mingyu."

"In the future, the possibility of ascending above Void Refining would also be far greater than for other Void Refining cultivators."

"Because, at that time, you would be the strongest Sword Master of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion!"

"This is the main reason for the Great Sun Sword Son's thousand-year slumber—to give you the possibility of comprehending the power of Order, to make your Sword Realm space more complete, to give you more possibilities in Void Refining. This is the inheritance of Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong."

Yue concluded at last.

This is the benefit of having a clear inheritance.

Plan one step, look three steps ahead, even seven steps. Preparations begin when the Dao Son is still at Qi Refining, all for the sake of what lies tens of thousands of years later, above Void Refining.

Accumulating and preparing layer upon layer like this, the passage of tens of thousands of years—how could rogue cultivators possibly compare?

"The wisdom of the patriarchs through the ages is profound and far-reaching; I cannot match it..."

Jiang Ding could not help but sigh in admiration.

Waves of drowsiness rose in his mind, instinct urging him to slumber, to awaken a thousand years later, and then step through the Soul Transformation heavenly tribulation in one go, achieving the rank of Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun.

Clang!

"Not yet."

Jiang Ding used his Great Sun Destruction Sword Intent to sweep through his sea of consciousness, dispelling this wave of drowsiness.

"I still have two matters to handle. The possible upper-realm army appearing in the Northern Plains must be dealt with—if it's too strong, I'll give up. Weak cultivators should have their own clear self-awareness; there are helplessnesses one must face."

"If it doesn't happen, I'll beat Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun to death, then arrange various matters in the Northern Plains. After all, a thousand years is not short."

"The other matter is,"

Jiang Ding's gaze was wistful: "I still need to bid farewell to An Siyan, Jin Jin Lingfeng, and others. Among cultivators of my generation, only these people are still alive. At the moment of parting, I cannot be absent."

He rose, flew out of Dayang Dayang Tianchi, and descended toward the ground.