Chapter 1295: Dead Star Expedition Plan

After shaking off the cultivators of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect, Jiang Ding immediately left the Southern Chu Kingdom, maintaining the strongest degree of concealment—external space, karma, dust, and rules did not touch him, and he traversed the earth like a ghost.

Several years later, he arrived at another mortal kingdom with thin spiritual Qi, did not reveal his form, transformed into an ordinary stone, and quietly lay on the ground.

Just like that, before he knew it, thirty years had passed.

During this time, Jiang Ding remained in the state of a small stone.

Sometimes hunters would wander into the deep mountains,

sometimes Qi Refining cultivators would fight to the death,

sometimes, from the perspective of the great data heavenly secret deduction, a hidden dragon who had a high probability of becoming the lord of a kingdom in the future Suffers Heavy wounds, or was still just a beggar—as long as one invested a little, in the future one could place a piece in these kingdoms…

sometimes, an outer disciple of a cultivation sect who possessed great fortune would come here…

And so on and so forth—in just a small patch of land, in a mere thirty years, so many wonderful things actually happened, all sorts of heroic figures rising one after another, which greatly surprised people.

To all of these, Jiang Ding paid no attention whatsoever.

He was just an ordinary little stone, not some chess player laying out the world; what he ought to do most was not to contact any person or any living being, and not to be tainted by any karma.

In the future, if there was something he wanted, one sword strike to cut it down, purge evil, champion justice, and just take it.

Rather than placing hopes in so-called schemes—this was not something he had the ability to do; he should have self-awareness.

Over the thirty years, the Ascension Baptism gradually ended and tended toward perfection.

The small stone flickered slightly.

At this moment, a kind of ethereal, clear, transcendent aura appeared on this small stone, carrying a flavor of perfect, flawless harmony.

"Finally… the Ascension Baptism has ended."

Jiang Ding murmured inwardly, looking inward at his body and divine soul.

At this moment, his foundation and potential were greatly strengthened; the Materialist Solar Sword Intent, which had been on the verge of breakthrough yet stagnant, began to slowly grow and strengthen once more, transitioning toward the Materialist Solar Sword Soul, causing waves of stinging pain to spread through his divine soul and body.

This stinging pain was controllable.

As the Materialist Solar Sword Intent strengthened bit by bit, the body and divine soul—whose foundation and potential had been greatly enhanced—were also adapting and evolving bit by bit, gaining sufficient depth.

"It is estimated that in another two hundred and thirteen years, I will complete the breakthrough from Sword Intent to Sword Soul."

"Possessing the Sword Soul level of the Sword Son of the Heavenly Sword from several thousand years ago."

Jiang Ding silently estimated: "The gap is still very large, but I now stand in the same great realm as he does; I won't die from just a single glance. If I'm lucky and have the terrain advantage, it may not be impossible to escape… Of course, that is the most extreme scenario; it's best not to meet him now."

"Leave immediately,"

"My strength is about to undergo a great change; before that, no risk-taking is needed, just steady cultivation, and wait for the future."

"Now, test another trump card…"

His figure vanished without the slightest delay.

……

Northern Plains.

Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting, Black Demon Palace.

A youth in blue opened his eyes, his divine sense sweeping the surroundings; he found no changes, everything as before—no order had collapsed into chaos or life-and-death battles because of his ascension.

"The test was successful. If I encounter a superior-tier enemy, I can escape, and my survival probability has greatly increased."

"Where is my clone?"

Jiang Ding felt a slight doubt and reached out to the clone.

One must know that in the past, he and his clone had both been extreme homebodies, rarely going out even once in several thousand years; now it was not so—the Black Demon Palace was empty.

Soon, he had the answer.

In the East Sea, a youth in blue and a girl in a white skirt were strolling by the lake, occasionally discussing matters of cultivation—of course, mainly the youth in blue was giving guidance and instruction. Checking the heavy governance artifact of Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting, he discovered that the resources obtained by Gong Gong Caiyu Canghai Tianjun had increased tenfold, allocated from Tushan Tian Jun's personal treasury.

"So weak-willed…"

Jiang Ding frowned.

He knew the clone was also himself, and did not wish an old friend of several thousand years to die, so he had given her a certain degree of support, hoping she could still accompany him for several tens of thousands of years, so that he would not one day wake from closed-door cultivation, look around the world, and find no one he knew.

The clone would remain stationed in this world permanently, unlike the main body which could return to the immortal sect and had many fellow daoists to exchange ideas with.

He felt loneliness.

"Should I stop it?"

A thought rose in Jiang Ding's heart.

This was simple—as long as he merged memories once more, the clone would be like the main body and no longer feel loneliness.

"Forget it."

"After all, she is an old friend; it is not easy for her to have such a fortuitous encounter, let her be."

Jiang Ding sighed softly.

Not returning to the immortal sect immediately, he cultivated in the Northern Plains for several more decades, confirmed that his condition was entirely normal, and only then vanished.

……

Returning to his home in Rongcheng, Jiang Ding resumed his regular rhythm of life.

Daily cultivation, sword forging, participation in the various flourishing immortal Dao scientific research efforts of the immortal sect, along with some teaching work; in ordinary times, he would accompany his family for meals and conversation.

He cherished this kind of time dearly.

Before his strength achieved a major breakthrough and the Sword Intent was born, he would not go to the Upper Realm again—even though the speed of refining his flying sword was slow as a snail, and the Great Yin-Yang Sword Realm inheritance "Solar Sword Sacrifice Art" lacked the crucial

special materials unique to the Upper Realm and could not be employed, the flying sword could not be hastened in growing stronger.

These were all bearable.

Time, just like that, slowly slipped away.

On this day, Jiang Ding awoke from cultivation, startled awake by a piece of top-secret intelligence from the immortal sect, coming from the Tian Yuan Domain as well as many scouting sword cultivators of the immortal sect.

"The Beyond-Domain has been initially surveyed."

On the other side of the Tian Yuan Domain wormhole lies the Ancient God Domain cluster... and the Ancient God Dao, a force above the Union Dao, still exists and has not perished.

Jiang Ding's heart trembled.

He instinctively initiated the Heavenly Mechanism Big Data inference, but gained nothing—what was involved was too exalted, beyond his capabilities.

"Yet the Ancient God Dao has not demonstrated any ruling power."

"Its sect world, the Ancient God Star Domain where three Zhong Senior Qian Shi Gao Jie form a ring, is shrouded in thick black mist. Without the Ancient God Dao's suppression, dozens of domains within the Ancient God Domain cluster have plunged into chaos, with numerous Union Dao sects and alien factions locked in constant warfare, forming and breaking alliances without end... utter disorder."

"Dozens of domains... have no overlord."

Jiang Ding's breath caught.

Vast, boundless domains now lay before the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong and the Badaxian Sect, brimming with countless opportunities and immense strategic space—perhaps no longer needing to kill each other, risking mutual annihilation at every turn.

Perhaps each could choose a direction and begin their own expansion!

Should large-scale expansion succeed, the strength of the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong and the Badaxian Sect would explode—Lian Xu experts would emerge endlessly, benefiting everyone.

But first, the true nature of the force above Union Dao—the Ancient God Dao—must be uncovered; otherwise, stepping beyond the domain means death.

(End of Chapter)