Chapter 1382: Jiuling Domain Has Been Exposed to the Ancient God Domain World Cluster

Jiang Ding paused to rest briefly, carefully sensing his current state.

He saw that his Material Sun Sword Soul was gradually growing stronger, and so was its sword intent.

Numerous inspirations and thoughts surged forth, deepening his understanding of swordcraft, the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and the Six Orders of the Sun.

"A seventh-grade sword embryo is like an amplifier, a microscope for observing the Dao—it has amplified all my abilities."

"I am undergoing a slow, continuous qualitative transformation; if this transformation completes, Chong Guang Lei will no longer be my mortal rival…"

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

In swordcraft, sword Dao understanding, and order comprehension, Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun was comprehensively inferior to him—not by a little, but by a cliff-like, enormous gap.

Then why did Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun appear evenly matched in battle, and even often brutally push him back?

Because even in his ordinary state, without using the Shangqing Thunder-Soul Charm, his magic power and spiritual sense were more than several times stronger than Jiang Ding's!

A several-fold enormous gap!

For top-tier sword cultivators, a slight difference in power means a world of difference, manifesting as entirely different strength—let alone a several-fold difference, which should allow one to slice through entire groups of weaklings at once, not stall.

This is not unfair.

Strong magic power and spiritual sense are strength, are advantages, are talent—there is nothing unjust about it.

And now,

Jiang Ding's magic power and spiritual sense are drawing closer to Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun's!

It is easy to imagine: once Jiang Ding's magic power and spiritual sense approach Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun's—not even surpassing them, just nearing a one-fold gap—

then even if Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun were resurrected, he could never again be Jiang Ding's rival; if a Transmission Disciple lacks overwhelming power superiority, he is of no concern to the Great Sun Sword Son.

Moreover, is approaching or matching Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun the limit?

No, this is absolutely impossible!

Jiang Ding's swordcraft, sword soul, and understanding of the Immortal Dao grant him far higher resource utilization efficiency than Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun.

If both possessed an eighth-grade sword embryo, Jiang Ding's spiritual sense and magic power would be even stronger than Chong Guang Lei Canghai Tianjun's—this is unquestionable; the same amount of resources yields different growth for different people.

"I will become stronger!"

"But I must not become arrogant or complacent…"

Jiang Ding did not get carried away; he said calmly: "My gap with the Immortal Realm's Dao Sons and Sword Sons remains enormous."

"First, their resource utilization may be no weaker than mine, and very likely far exceeds mine—they are personally taught by Jin-Xian-level experts, possess Immortal Arts perfectly suited to their path, and inherit meticulously refined paths forged by generations of ancestral masters who sacrificed themselves one after another…"

"…All of these, any single one of them, are heavenly opportunities for me."

"These heavenly opportunities, they are born with them—and there are many more."

"Second, while their resource utilization likely exceeds mine, what resources do they possess?"

"Ninth-grade sword embryos, certainly; countless Minor Thousand Worlds and Zhong Senior Qian Shi Gao Jie; celestial treasures, heavenly marvels, heavenly enlightenment opportunities—these precious things are freely available, obtainable in the blink of an eye."

"Combined, these create the enormous gap between me and them."

"Thinking this way, my heart grows somewhat despondent…"

Jiang Ding smiled bitterly: "My current situation is too awkward—I've surpassed Transmission Disciples by a wide margin, yet my gap with the Immortal Realm's Dao Sons and Sword Sons remains colossal, the kind where I'd be obliterated the moment I show my face; escape is possible, but perhaps only a two or three in ten chance."

"The gap between Dao Sons and Transmission Disciples is simply too vast."

"Is there any way to bridge it…?"

In Jiang Ding's mind, a person instinctively surfaced.

The Yin Sword Son—or the Yang Sword Son—though only one of them, their individual strength seems to lie between the Immortal Realm's Dao Sons and Transmission Disciples.

"A bit evil."

"Too weak-willed, picking on the weak and fearing the strong."

Jiang Ding shook his head slightly: "They'd better be willing to engage me in honorable sword duels, or attack me first—otherwise, how can I attack others without cause?"

"I'm a law-abiding citizen!"

"I need a legitimate reason…"

"Would the Yin Line dislike me?"

"To attack and try to kill an innocent child over hatred from tens of thousands of years ago? That would be a capital crime, an unforgivable sin—no current Immortal Sect law could ever recognize such an act."

"Correct."

"Exactly like that."

Jiang Ding was satisfied.

His sword forging temporarily ended; he entered rest mode, and his clones in all Immortal Sect alchemical labs suddenly experienced a massive surge in spiritual computational power, beginning to process decades of accumulated problems and difficulties at thirty times the efficiency, seizing this rare opportunity to resolve all previously unsolvable issues.

At the same time, Jiang Ding began reading the Immortal Sect's internal intelligence reports to understand the current domain situation.

"The nine Immortal Sects' intelligence networks have jointly confirmed: Jiuling Domain has been exposed to the gaze of numerous forces within the Ancient God Domain's world cluster—we have lost strategic initiative."

"As expected, this intelligence was leaked by Jiao Ming Huang."

The first black-bolded intelligence Jiang Ding saw was this, startling him.

"Currently, the Nine Immortal Alliance and the Ten Thousand Races Alliance have significantly increased Dao Soldiers along the border with Jiuling Domain and laid down vast Star-Domain-level arrays, strengthening all defenses—there are now no weak points."

"Seventeen years ago, the Nine Immortal Alliance, the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, and the Demon God Sect all sent Soul Transformation-level envoy teams to visit Jiuling Domain—they seem to refer to us as 'Jiuling Alliance'?"

"Currently, these envoys are stationed within Tian Yuan Domain."

"The Nine Immortal Sects have not yet decided whether to receive these extradimensional cultivators; they are still deliberating, using the excuse that the He Dao cultivators are in deep seclusion…"

"Regardless of whether war eventually breaks out or not, they will ultimately need to receive these envoys."

"Among these envoys, the Nine Immortal Alliance's nine sects appear particularly interested in Jiuling Xianzong, which shares the same origin—especially the envoy from Tianshen Palace, who shows exceptional interest in Brother Xuanwu Tiangong.

These Mo Sects, sharing the same origin and incorporating worship-based divine cultivation, would greatly strengthen one another if they could devour each other."

"Tianshen Palace, the strongest sect in the Ancient God Domain's Nine Immortal Alliance, seems extremely confident and highly aggressive, pressing forward relentlessly."

"The Heavenly God Palace, which has always been the strongest immortal sect of the Nine Immortal Alliance of the Ancient God Domain, seems extremely confident, highly aggressive, and pressing forward relentlessly."

"This is a good thing. The Heavenly Palace is even attempting to form an alliance with the Immortal Gate, to carve up Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace together..."

"From all these signs, we know that the Ancient God Domain is not entirely ignorant about the Nine Spirit Domain. Much of the intelligence is clear—at the very least, they know that the Immortal Gate and Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace share an extremely deep historical enmity..."