Chapter 1189: This Is the Master Tushan Army

Four hundred and seventy years.

On the timescale of twenty thousand years, this is relatively brief—measured by a mortal's lifespan, it amounts to roughly two months.

Jiang Ding put away the Taiqing Flying Sword and held it before him, examining it carefully.

For now, the Taiqing Flying Sword had already reached the absolute limit of a Primordial Spirit treasure; in every respect its material had attained the level of a Void Refinement spatial treasure, but because it could not give birth to a Rule Divine Prohibition, it was still far from qualifying as a spatial treasure.

"The moment the Six Paths of Reincarnation structure is completed will be the chance for the Taiqing Flying Sword to break through…"

Jiang Ding murmured.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation order structure would greatly accelerate the progress of the Taiqing Flying Sword in condensing the Rule Divine Prohibition; breaking through at that point would no longer pose any difficulty.

Jiang Ding drew the Taiqing Flying Sword into the embryonic form of the Sword Realm between his brows, transforming it into an eternal sun within the Sword Realm, spurring the growth of all things in heaven and earth within the Sword Realm and giving birth to the order of the Six Paths.

Jiang Ding cast a glance at the starry universe.

The magic power on his body stirred restlessly, exerting tremendous pressure on the surrounding starry sky, which in turn drew flickering threads of electric serpents in the sky, as faint dark clouds seemed about to gather.

This was not an Ascension Lei Gao Jie, but an Ascension Lei Gao Jie.

This stretch of starry sky differed greatly from that of the Nine Spirit Domain; it contained a certain "Ascension Rule," likely set in place by some terrifying immortal-level faction in primordial times, for the purpose of expanding its sphere of rule by dozens or hundreds of times and drawing in countless heaven-sent treasures and prodigies from the Minor Thousand Worlds.

Now, as Jiang Ding's strength repeatedly surpassed the peak of Soul Transformation and almost perfectly conformed to the "Ascension Rule," the Ascension Lei Gao Jie in the void now showed a tendency to trigger and descend of its own accord.

Had this been in primordial times, an Ascension Lei Gao Jie would probably have already appeared.

This was a means by which a terrifying immortal-level faction absorbed fresh blood—or perhaps a means of absorbing blood-food and provisions; in any case, it carried a certain coercive nature.

"No, not now."

Jiang Ding murmured.

At present, his strength was far from having reached its limit; he could not possibly go exploring an unfamiliar place now.

Moreover, even if his strength reached its limit, he would not take the risk as long as he could obtain the provisions for his own growth within the Nine Spirit Domain and Jiao Jiao Mingyu; it was not worth it.

"Seal!"

Jiang Ding formed hand-seals, using sword qi and order as a medium to cast out rune after rune that fell upon his own body.

He was employing a sealing art from the Immortal Gate to slowly lower his aura, eventually sealing off part of his divine sense and magic power as well, reducing his own strength to below the alert line.

Should the need arise, he could break the seal at any moment.

Once everything was done, Jiang Ding gave his sleeve a sweep, transformed into a streak of fleeing light, and flew toward the Minor Thousand Worlds.

……

East Sea, Blood Demon Abyss.

Jiang Ding descended from the sky and looked at the sea before him.

the great sea.

This was a blood-sea vortex roughly ten thousand li across, rotating slowly but ceaselessly; from the center of the abyss-sea it would from time to time spew out ghosts of various kinds—corpse-ghosts, zombies, skeletons, spectres—numbering anywhere from tens to thousands, their strength ranging from Qi Refining to Jin Dan, with Nascent Soul-level creatures appearing now and then.

These ghosts carried a blood-red gleam in their eyes, and the moment they appeared they attacked all living beings around them indiscriminately.

"Fall!"

A cultivator battalion of the Hun Yuan Fa Heaven Capital formed hand-seals, and balls of light like blazing suns rained down from the sky, obliterating these monsters.

As the radiant clouds dispersed, only a few bones, flesh, and specter crystals remained on the spot.

Jiang Ding's brow furrowed slightly.

He calculated briefly—the magic power expended by this cultivator battalion versus the spoils—and found the cost-effectiveness extremely low; the spoils seized could not begin to make up for the expenditure.

These monsters looked real, and within his divine sense they were real, but once struck down, the vast majority of the matter and energy within their bodies vanished.

Yes, vanished.

He did not know how this matter and energy appeared, nor how they disappeared.

This was a thoroughly losing transaction.

Not to mention, what was stationed here was not just one cultivator battalion led by a single Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun, but the full Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting force: the Hun Yuan Fa Heaven Capital, the Great Sun Long Sword Capital, and the Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting Maid Corps were all stationed here, having learned bitter lessons from history and daring not to be careless.

"Is this the work of that Blood-Dao Void Refinement cultivator?"

Jiang Ding hesitated.

Could a Void Refinement cultivator whose avatar he had beaten to death really possess such ability?

"Who?!!"

At this moment, the many cultivators of the Hun Yuan Fa Heaven Capital discovered a figure that had suddenly appeared in the midst of the great army.

Without a second thought, they formed hand-seals, and blazing-sun light-balls each as large as Shanfeng assembled into a massive military formation that smashed toward this side; the fluctuations of the spells were enormously vast, their momentum terrifying.

Even without a Soul Transformation Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun holding the formation at its core, they still displayed the strength of a peak Soul Transformation cultivator—worthy of being one of the three great armies of Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting.

In an instant, having sensed the newcomer's aura, blazing-sun light-balls each as large as Shanfeng abruptly went out.

"Impossible!"

"Why is this happening?"

Many Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun were horrified.

The array-treasures they had been refining for untold years—a thousand Yuanguangmingdian—suddenly lost all their spiritual light, no longer accepting the input of their magic power and divine sense, and even began to gather a terrifying backlash force that threatened to shake their divine souls and fleshly bodies into a mist of blood, annihilating them body and soul alike.

Many Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun were seized with great terror.

"Stop."

Jiang Ding tapped lightly with a finger, and the backlash force of the thousand Yuanguangmingdian dissipated.

This was precisely the fragility of an organizational entity laid down across the passage of time.

After twelve hundred years, Jiang Ding did not recognize a single cultivator here; he shared no common memories with them, and naturally they would not pledge loyalty to Jiang Ding.

That scene of a founding dynasty's grand progenitor returning to life while ministers and the great army bowed in reverence was, after all, only imagination.

The prestige of any Soul Transformation Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun among these Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting soldiers was far greater than Jiang Ding's; at a critical moment these troops would absolutely only obey the commands of other Soul Transformation Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun.

Fortunately, in the Cultivation World, the strong do not rely on prestige to rule.

The destructive backlash force emanating from a thousand Hunyuan Guangming Halls vanished, as abruptly as it had appeared.

"For unauthorizedly attacking the Lord of Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting, Tushan Tian Jun, the penalty is death."

At this moment, the cold voice of the Wanli Beacon Tower, the administrative instrument of Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting, rang out.

"Tushan Tian Jun!"

"Tian Jun!"

Countless cultivators around had fear flash across their faces; one by one, they knelt on the ground, kowtowing and saying, "Tian Jun, please forgive us; we were unaware..."

At this moment, all the cultivators remembered.

Tushan Tian Jun!

The invincible Tian Jun who founded Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting, Tushan Tian Jun!

They had actually taken the initiative to attack the Lord of Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting?

This was tantamount to dancing on a grave and running wild in the Yama's Hall, not knowing how to write the character for death.

"It is nothing."

"Fellow Daoists, please rise."

Jiang Ding smiled, using an invisible force to lift all the kneeling cultivators, and said gently, "I failed to observe military regulations and entered a military restricted area without notification; this is my fault. What does it have to do with you, fellow Daoists?"

"According to Master Tushan Law, the entire crime lies with me. I should be fined thirty years' salary and compensate all military cultivators in Master Tushan Zhongting, as a warning to others."