Chapter 1677: Returned to the Hometown

A beam of light that extinguishes the Dao at the very beginning, traversing the starry sky between the silver-core black hole and the solar system.

This beam of light possessed faster-than-light speed!

In the universe, in theory, nothing can ever exceed the speed of light, because according to special relativity, as an object approaches faster-than-light speed its mass becomes infinite, and the energy required tends toward infinity.

Yet at this moment, an object truly moving faster than light had appeared!

Defying common sense, defying cognition, such a faster-than-light existence had actually appeared in this vast stretch of cosmic starry sky within the Milky Way.

Could this be a creation of a civilization above the third tier?

No one knew, no one was aware; perhaps no civilization could observe it, because this beam of light did not spread out in all directions—it only converged upon a single point, drawing closer toward a fixed direction.

Beneath faster-than-light speed, all things in heaven and earth slowed down.

Jiang Ding soared through the cosmos, silently savoring the scene of this moment.

Between heaven and earth, light rays, the motion of stars, the motion of galaxies, the motion of asteroid belts… every moving object had become slow, extremely slow.

At this moment, could one say that time itself had also slowed?

Because time is something manifested through the motion of matter.

When every moving thing in the universe had slowed, with no other time reference frame remaining, then—had time also slowed?

Yes,

time had indeed slowed!

Jiang Ding was certain of this.

"I should be able to reach the solar system within a thousand years…"

Jiang Ding silently calculated.

And so, after this beam of light traversed the cosmos for several decades, at a certain moment it suddenly burst forth with brilliant radiance, flickering without cease, its glow plummeting at extreme speed, breaking free from the faster-than-light state and rapidly dropping below the speed of light.

"Not good!"

Jiang Ding's expression shifted slightly.

At this moment, his divine soul was collapsing!

After enduring a period of faster-than-light travel, the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul had faintly developed cracks, unable to continue existing; it dropped below the speed of light and lost control, careening crookedly toward a planet, and under its terrifying power, punched straight through this nameless planet!

The light streaked away, the starry sky exploded with a roar, crustal layers split apart, magma erupted, and countless sparks appeared in the starry sky.

After a moment, this nameless planet orbiting its star ceased to exist; in its place remained only swarms of meteorites scattering in all directions, captured by the gravity of numerous planets and stars, or else flying off into the distance.

That beam of light, blocked by the planet, had its loss of control somewhat eased; like a headless fly it darted about wildly through the cosmic starry sky, and only after a long while did it settle down, remaining in place, its radiance flickering on and off uncertainly.

"Damn it!"

"My four-step metamorphosis is not fully complete!"

Jiang Ding's face was deathly pale.

The four-step Nirvana of the Sword Soul was both complete and not complete.

Complete, because the Sword Soul had already undergone an essential transformation—the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul had been born, possessing various abilities.

Not complete, because the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul had only metamorphosed a fraction of its essence; the soul sheath and Dharma body matching the Sword Soul, as well as the sword body of the Taiqing Flying Sword, had not appeared at all, preventing the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul from further growth, or even from fully displaying its power.

Once, as now, it fully unleashed the power of the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul, it would immediately be harmed by the Sword Soul itself, on the verge of collapse!

This was why the Dharma body was so important to a cultivator.

A cultivator without a Dharma body was a tree without roots; a flying sword without a sword body was but a momentary flash of light, unable to fully display its power, let alone advance further.

"I need to construct an entirely new Dharma body, to let the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul complete its full metamorphosis!"

"Otherwise, the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul cannot use abilities beyond its instincts…"

Jiang Ding murmured.

His gaze was blood-red, with a faint bloom of icy killing intent.

How demanding were the requirements for a Dharma body and flying-sword sword body capable of bearing a four-step metamorphosed Sword Soul?

The Dharma body he had possessed in the past was entirely inadequate!

Perhaps only by sweeping clean the entire Upper Realm, slaying all the Immortal Dao heirs and quasi-immortal clan holy sons, and fusing their Ben Ming Fa treasures into one furnace, could a Dharma body sufficient to fully bear the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul be constructed.

Otherwise, the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul could never truly emerge, forever remaining a mere fetus, unable to grow.

This was already the minimum requirement.

One must understand that when the Great Sun Sword Son was at the three-step limit, he needed a battlefield of over a hundred Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong heirs to metamorphose steadily; yet now only eight were needed—metamorphosis was certain, the requirements lowered far too much.

Under the dominance of the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul, matter and energy could be utilized with extreme efficiency, with virtually no waste—only thus could the standard be met.

"It would be best to complete one purge within the Dao Merging tier."

"The glory of the Upper Realm needs this sovereign to save it, to bring a blessed land of the Human Dao for the human race and all living beings under heaven…"

Jiang Ding Zi said to himself.

At this moment, a strange instinct arose within him.

Namely, that a True Immortal Son could certainly complete six qualitative changes during the Void Refinement stage; he himself had already embarked on the path of pursuing the True Immortal Son, having stepped out from the three-step limit to reach the fourth step, and was now qualified to gaze up at the True Immortal Son's back.

Should he encounter a True Immortal Son in the endless starry sky in the future, the other would certainly not ignore him.

Whether to recruit, or to slay, or to cast a glance and then depart—but certainly not to ignore, because one who had reached the four-step limit had already transcended an ordinary Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong heir, and would in the future become an important figure of a hegemon race in the endless starry sky.

Jiang Ding was in

the starry sky, eyes closed, regulating his breath, repairing the damaged Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul.

Because there was no external spiritual energy to replenish him, he proceeded with great caution; any leaking spiritual matter was reclaimed once again, used to form new Sword Soul structures.

This beam of light thus remained in the dead, silent starry sky.

Several decades later.

Jiang Ding opened his eyes.

His Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul had shrunk once more, becoming smaller than a grain of rice; this was healing through 'self-consumption,' restoring the damaged Sword Soul.

"I need to return to the Solar System as quickly as possible, to an environment rich in spiritual Qi!"

Jiang Ding Ning Zhong said.

If he could not return to a Daoist environment rich in spiritual Qi before the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul completely collapsed, he would very likely face death; the sword soul, which had not fully transformed, was far too unstable and required spiritual matter to replenish it, in order to complete this final portion of its metamorphosis.

Clang~

The Grand Clarity Flying Sword hummed softly, and together with its sword master once again transformed into a beam of Primordial Law-Destroying Light, reaching light speed; after several instants it broke through superluminal speed, advancing steadily toward the Solar System.

From time to time, this beam of Primordial Law-Destroying Light would stop to repair itself, and after several decades would once again set out on its journey at superluminal speed.

Repeating this cycle, occasionally borrowing natural spacetime to make progress.

Time passed bit by bit.

Unknowingly, more than a thousand years had passed; the Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul grew ever more transparent, and that beam of Primordial Law-Destroying Light grew ever dimmer, almost impossible to observe, about to fall into an impasse.

But just at this moment, in the distance, a beautiful star system appeared before Jiang Ding — so familiar, radiating the breath of life.

"Haha!"

"Home, I've returned!"

Jiang Ding laughed heartily, the great stone in his heart finally falling to the ground.

The Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul mustered its last strength, transforming into a beam of superluminal light that, like lightning, pierced through the vast cosmic starry sky and flew into the Solar System brimming with spiritual Qi!