Chapter 1619: The Limit the Great Sun Sword Lord Cannot Transcend

"Time is the flow of matter…"

"If all matter in the universe stopped flowing, time would cease as well."

Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

He stepped out and arrived at the Nine Spirit Domain, within the Fire Spirit Minor World.

All the sentient beings here had been relocated, with appropriate compensation given, because this place was about to become the Great Sun Sword Lord's arena for time.

This Minor Thousand World drifted within the dark, heavy domain of Chen Chen De Gao Jie, eternally unmoving; countless stories had unfolded within it, every person in those stories had perished, yet the world itself remained, radiant as a bright pearl.

Its crystal walls spun on their own, bringing day and night to the world, bringing the flow of the four seasons.

Clang!

Jiang Ding drew his sword and struck out with one slash.

In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent; the spinning crystal walls, the drifting Minor Thousand World, and all the mountains, rivers, oceans, raging winds and torrential rains upon it, as well as countless beasts of prey, cattle and sheep, insects, birds… every living being and every thing in this world was frozen solid.

All matter had been frozen.

This was a single sword strike from a being of Celestial Being combat power!

"Has time truly come to a stop?"

Jiang Ding looked toward the Minor Thousand World.

His gaze pierced through layer upon layer of crystal walls, pierced through layer upon layer of clouds, landing in a primeval forest, landing on a great tree, landing on a Spirit Cicada in the midst of shedding its shell.

This first-tier Spirit Cicada was frozen motionless.

Not just its body—its blood, muscles, cells, even its divine soul were frozen motionless; at the most minute level of molecules and particles, all was in a state of stillness.

Therefore, its lifespan had also ceased to change.

Remaining forever at this single moment, no matter how the universe outside changed, its lifespan would never alter—not a second added, not a second taken away.

"This is the Sword of Time-Destruction…"

"No, to be precise, it is the Sword of Present-Time Destruction."

Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

In the inheritance of the Immortal Art · Suppressing the Void, time was divided by category into present, past, and future.

Beings below Immortal could only ever control present time; past time and future time were beyond the reach of beings below Immortal—this exceeded the limits of their ability.

This sword strike was still being explored, far from complete.

Crack!

In only three seconds, a fissure appeared in this frozen tableau of the Fire Spirit Minor World; the fissure swiftly spread into a spiderweb pattern, and finally the entire tableau collapsed and crumbled to ash.

The world's time flowed once more.

At the same time, a faint, indistinct resentment spread forth, landing precisely upon the powerful being in the starry sky; it was exceedingly subtle, not yet reaching the point of qualitative change, and would dissipate on its own after a period of time.

But if one continued to obstruct the world's ope

ration, this terrible resentment would swiftly reach a level that would make even Celestial Beings feel dread.

This was the resentment of a Minor Thousand World!

The feeble beings within a Minor Thousand World could not represent the entire Minor Thousand World.

All the matter possessed by these beings, taken together, weighed less than a hundred-millionth of the world; that a Minor Thousand World could endure for so immensely long, watching one Celestial Being after another be born and die, was not without reason.

"No major problem."

"The Heavenly Dao of the Nine Spirit Domain favors me; as long as I don't truly damage the world, nothing will happen…"

Jiang Ding said quietly after a moment of contemplation.

This was a trait shared by every Great Sun Sword Lord throughout history; the reason was unknown.

In any case, the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Spirit Domain simply liked the Great Sun Sword Lord—whichever person held that title, it liked them.

Jiang Ding continued to contemplate the Sword of Time-Destruction.

With the Sword of Space-Destruction as a foundation, comprehending this sword technique was not as difficult as imagined.

As envisioned, this sword strike should be formless: one slash severing a powerful enemy's present time, ten-thousand-year lifespans becoming empty, black hair turning white, a maiden becoming an old crone, passing away on the spot.

As for slaying a powerful enemy in past time with one strike, that should be the domain of Immortals…

Jiang Ding silently pondered.

Time flowed by his side, yet he himself seemed utterly unaware, unchanged in any way.

As though,

time had frozen upon his person.

Yes, at this moment, the Great Sun Sword Lord's lifespan had once again changed!

Sometimes his lifespan broke through the current seventy-thousand limit, reaching eighty or ninety thousand, even surpassing the one hundred ten or twenty thousand of a Dao Merging cultivator;

sometimes it plummeted abruptly, his lifespan becoming fifty thousand, even the thirty-thousand lifespan of a Void Refinement cultivator, placing him in an extremely dangerous state, his aura rising and falling unsteadily.

However, no matter how the individual cultivator fared, the flow of time in the Immortal Dao Great Universe always continued on.

Even Celestial Beings could not affect it in the slightest.

And so, Jiang Ding's contemplation lasted for a thousand years.

On this day, he opened his eyes and looked at the gaunt old man who had appeared before him; the image was hazy and broken, flickering on and off, as though about to cut out at any moment.

Jiang Ding restrained a portion of his power.

"Not bad,"

"your concealment ability has greatly strengthened."

Commander Chen Chen praised: "I clearly knew you were here, and I borrowed the Central Array Spirit Computer to communicate with you, yet even so it took considerable effort before I successfully connected."

"Is this the description of time from the Immortal Art · Suppressing the Void?"

"Yes."

"I'll write an article later; help me polish and expand it."

Jiang Ding smiled: "Having the Six Paths of Reincarnation with time—its concealment is truly astonishing. This is good news."

"It is good news."

The two discussed time for a while, each offering their views.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong, now a Celestial-level force, has caught up with the Great Sun Sword Master in R&D; its scientific technologies advance daily, and both sides have made considerable progress in exploring time through mutual exchange.

"Jiang Ding,"

After a moment, Yuan Zhuan returned to the main topic: "The Six Paths Grand Void Illusion Realm has been successfully developed and is undergoing internal testing; the sect's spiritual soul defense weakness has been fully remedied."

"The problem of local independence among citizens across regions should now be resolved."

"Good news."

Jiang Ding gave a slight nod.

After decades of testing, the two ran countless trials on the Six Paths Grand Void Illusion Realm and confirmed there were no flaws.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's immortal research did not halt, continuing into projects such as eighth-rank military arrays, Solar System-class warships, eighth-rank spells, and Celestial-level Gong Fa.

With Celestial-level computers, the Great Sun Sword Master, and the entire Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's elite scientific team, progress accelerated rapidly in every field.

A thousand years later, the eighth-rank military array emerged; the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong truly possessed a Celestial army.

Two thousand years later, the Celestial-level Gong Fa emerged; though still weak, it was now cultivable.

Three thousand years later, the design for the Solar System-class warship was completed; all technical challenges had been overcome, but the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong currently lacked the resources to build such a warship.

At this point, all of the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's initial immortal objectives had been fulfilled.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong had truly taken root among the World Clusters.

Everything flourished.

Everything was beautiful; the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong had never been this strong before, and it would grow even stronger—until its power reached the material limit of the World Clusters, then it would mobilize its entire army to surround and slay the Ancient Divine Ancestors, eliminating the final threat.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's strategic planning was as steady as an old dog.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's path was as steady as Taishan.

"And my path,"

"My path..."

Beside the sun, a youth in green robes stared at his hands, his expression twisted into mad frenzy: "I've reached the limit!"

"The limit!"

"The Sword That Erases Time is complete; the Heavenly Sword Art has reached its peak! The Gong Fa has absorbed the essence of the incomplete 'Qingdi Yun Cong Tianhuang' and taken a step toward the Near-Immortal level!"

"I have pushed everything to its limit."

"But,"

"I cannot break through!"

"I cannot break through!"

"I've reached the peak in every aspect, yet I still cannot achieve the fourth Nirvana—there isn't even a glimmer of hope, not a single shred!"

"No hope at all!"

"Is becoming an Immortal this hard?"

Jiang Ding roared in madness: "I've exhausted all my wisdom, yet I cannot inch closer—even a glimpse of the True Immortal's back is beyond me."

"Is this my fate?"

"Do I too have an unchangeable destiny?"

Jiang Ding slowly returned from his madness, speaking coldly.

"How wonderful,"

"an unchangeable fate."

"Ha!"

"Hahaha!"

Jiang Ding chuckled softly: "If this is truly how it is, then let me see whether the blood of the Dao Heirs from the Upper Realm and the legitimate sons of the Near-Immortal Clans can change any of this."

"The source of turmoil in the Upper Realm, the source of all beings' suffering, lies in the Upper Realm's supreme experts and the Upper Realm's Dao Heirs."

"The crowns bestowed upon you by Heaven and Earth—you have betrayed them."

"Then let me take those crowns."

"Will slaughtering every Dao Heir and Near-Immortal Clan's Sacred Son change this limit?"

Jiang Ding sighed.

"Even if it cannot let me break through,"

"then kill them anyway—just for fun, just to uphold Heaven's justice. They wouldn't mind."

Amid his sigh, the figure of the youth in green robes faded away.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong was now safe enough; he would pursue his ideal—to bring a new order to the Upper Realm, to Heaven, Earth, and all beings.