Chapter 333

The voice of Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun was soft and soothing.

It carried a certain Dao essence; a single short sentence contained dozens of times the surface meaning, prompting everyone to ponder deeply.

"Nascent Soul, Jin Dan shatters, Nascent Soul emerges."

"At this stage, the Nascent Soul fuses the Xiu Shi De Fa and the spiritual soul, possesses the innate ability to teleport, can survive independently as a lifeform, and has the well-known ability of soul possession."

"Its lifespan reaches twelve hundred years!"

Many students could not help but display expressions of longing and desire.

"That's the span of dozens of generations of mortals."

"One could say that a Nascent Soul cultivator is already a being between energy and substance, naturally able to command the celestial qi, the favored child of heaven and earth; any spell cast through a Nascent Soul will far surpass the power of those below it."

"The Magic Domain is a region formed when the Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual awareness merges with heaven and earth."

"Within this region, celestial qi is controlled by its spiritual awareness; without its permission, lower-tier cultivators lose all ability to manipulate celestial qi and can only resist with their internal magic power."

"Feel it for yourselves."

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun stirred his thoughts.

Boom!

In the spiritual awareness perspective of Jiang Ding, An Siyan, and other Foundation Establishment cultivators, the celestial qi within several kilometers around suddenly became agitated.

From free and chaotic, it transformed into a peculiar arrangement, radiating a terrifying aura of soul-annihilation and spirit-eradication; even slight contact with these celestial qi caused intense stabbing pain.

Even more terrifying was that the celestial qi, which had been perceptible within their spiritual awareness since the Qi Refining stage—normal as air and breath for decades—vanished from perception instantly.

"This feeling…"

Jiang Ding's expression changed.

It was like a fish losing water; his body swayed, unable to draw upon external celestial qi, unable to even maintain the most basic levitation spell, forced to rely solely on his magic power, which could not be replenished.

It was like entering the Dao Le Mo Fa era.

If this condition persisted too long, even cultivators might fall from the sky like fish out of water.

Never mind resisting attacks.

The situation around them was similar; some even fell dozens of meters, faces flushed, staggering back up, their magic power control noticeably impaired.

"When you students join the Nascent Soul aerial forces, remember never to leave the range of the Magic Domain."

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun did not dissolve the Magic Domain, continuing:

"Fights between Nascent Soul cultivators usually begin with clashing Magic Domains; the aerial forces' combat style is similar—before direct contact, they unleash relentless bombardments from aerial motherships, aerial warships, and aerial fighters to shatter the enemy Nascent Soul's Magic Domain, then only attack the enemy's physical body."

"Externally, yes—but internally, you students must learn to maintain the aerial force formation while carefully sensing your commander's Magic Domain, striving to align every attack with the rhythm of its breathing."

"Don't worry, the Magic Domain will actively cooperate with you; it's nowhere near as terrifyingly difficult as you imagine…"

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun meticulously explained how the aerial forces conducted attacks, defense, mobility, and other precautions, what knowledge reserves were needed, what training was required, and so on.

The knowledge delivered each minute was enough to overload the spiritual soul of a Qi Refining cultivator on the spot.

After three consecutive days.

"That concludes today's theoretical lesson. Review carefully after class, and ask promptly if anything is unclear."

"Now, begin the rotation drill for officers and soldiers within the aerial squadrons."

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun dissolved the Magic Domain.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, immediately sitting cross-legged in midair, rushing to restore their internal magic power.

As cultivators of Jing-level Gong Fa, merely hovering consumed vast amounts of magic power—something unimaginable under normal circumstances.

"Nascent Soul… is already non-human."

Jiang Ding, too, felt shaken; it took him several hours to restore his magic power to full capacity.

Around him, each student boarded an aerial fighter; the Third Battalion's one hundred and eight aerial fighters formed a squadron, having trained together for years until they were utterly proficient—military formations densely layered, the squadron-level formation forming in an instant.

Jiang Ding retrieved the Wu Ling Pearl and extended his spiritual awareness into it.

The further he progressed, the less interested he became in formation-based group combat; after confirming he could pass, he no longer devoted his attention to this.

"Wait a moment—don't go in yet, or you'll pass out."

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun's voice appeared in his ear.

Jiang Ding turned, puzzled.

"We're changing today's squadron formation drill theme."

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the other students: "Today's objective is how to counterattack the Dao Zi of the Jiudaxian Sect."

"Where did the Jiudaxian Sect Dao Zi come from…?"

Huang Yan and other students froze, then all turned their gazes toward the young man in green robes nearby, holding a treasure pearl, preparing to meditate.

Since he had previously demonstrated Jin Dan-level power, they had checked public records and were stunned—some even suspected he was a Dao Zi secretly embedded by one of the immortal sects.

"Begin."

Lu Ling Master Dinghai Zhenjun offered no explanation; with a flick of his sleeve, Jiang Ding appeared forty to fifty kilometers away.

On the other side, the temporary commander of the aerial squadron had completed the vote.

As expected, it was Huang Yan, late Foundation Establishment; most peak Foundation Establishment cultivators were over a hundred years old, either in seclusion or planning for Golden Core, rarely attending class, their credits already sufficient.

"Perfect!"

"So what if he's a Jiudaxian Sect Dao Zi?"

Huang Yan beamed, seizing the formation nexus of the aerial squadron; the mid-grade third-rank squadron formation instantly formed, and he laughed loudly: "We of the Immortal Gate never duel one-on-one—we obliterate them with long-range volleys."

He still resented being shattered by a casual sword qi last time.

"Huang Yan, don't play the clichéd villain."

Jin Jin Lingfeng frowned: "Jiang Ding is cunning—he's not some simple Great Sun Sword Dao Zi we just encountered. Stay alert."

"So what if he's cunning?"

Huang Yan snorted coldly: "The Immortal Gate has run into plenty of cunning cultivators before, and didn't they all fall one after another?"

The Yu Lingzi radar wave unfurled, blanketing an area of a hundred kilometers in every direction—enough to leave an ordinary Jin Dan Zhong Qi cultivator with nowhere to hide, even a flying mosquito rendered in perfect clarity.

"Just keep bombarding him, how could he possibly—"

Huang Yan's confident expression shifted: "Where is he?"

Within a hundred-li Yu Lingzi radar wave range, not so much as a single hair.

Information is life.

For Immortal Gate cultivators, there is nothing worse than losing every trace of the enemy's information.

"He vanished all of a sudden."

"The Yu Lingzi radar wave isn't picking up anything at all."

The other classmates, each tracking their own target enemy, all changed expression at once and cursed aloud: "Huang Yan, damn you, stop gawping—get mobile and pull back right now, then push the third-grade mid-quality Yu Lingzi radar electromagnetic wave array into overload and drag him out of hiding!"

"Right, right, on it!"

Huang Yan fumbled in a panic, switching the array.

The aerospace team—composed of elite Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Immortal Gate—banked hard, tails spewing thrust, dense array patterns spreading across more than ten kilometers, retreating rapidly at a speed far greater than that of an ordinary Jin Dan Zhong Qi cultivator.

At the same time, the third-grade mid-quality Yu Lingzi radar array swept frantically, again and again, nearly exceeding the scope of a Jin Dan Zhong Qi cultivator's divine sense.

"Nothing!"

"Still nothing!"

"Fall back—"

As if some invisible pressure and killing intent were closing in, Huang Yan was drenched in cold sweat, continuously relaying team information and calling for support from the others.

Clang!

The Annihilation Sword Intent appeared without warning.

Every classmate felt their hearts go cold, stunned into a momentary loss of spiritual perception; by the time they recovered, a pale-blue sword qi had materialized outside the cockpit of their warcraft, scalps tingling.

At the very center of the layered array hub, Huang Yan was pinned down by an azure flying sword, not daring to move a muscle, the third-grade mid-quality military array hacked into utter ruin.

Outside the military array.

"Everyone's reconnaissance ability still needs a bit of work."

Jiang Ding bowed once, then vanished.

A moment later, he appeared beside Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun, cradling a pearl of lingmist, sinking into a deep state of meditative cultivation.

(End of chapter)