Chapter 477: Yinwu Master Dinghai Zhenjun Is Already Useless

The news that the Taiyin Sword Son had formed a Dao Rule Jin Dan spread out, sending ripples toward the outside of the realm.

A Dao Son is a figure who, in the future, has hope of Refining Void, and may possibly master the great power that dominates the changes of myriad realms in a single person. Although he is only a Jin Dan cultivator now, every move he makes draws attention.

Some were dissatisfied, some harbored hatred, some looked forward to it... all manner of reactions, not just one.

Jiang Ding paid no heed to these. For him now, the distance to influencing realms was still very far; as long as he took care of his own cultivation, that was enough.

First, he returned home, staying there for two weeks.

Then, he went to the Spiritless Desert again, hurrying on for half a month. Once the time was up, he returned to the school, continuing to refine his flying sword, inscribe prohibitions, draw upon the world's spiritual energy to cultivate, and accumulate magic power.

In the blink of an eye, several more months passed.

Beneath the resplendent and glorious Sun Divine Tree, Jiang Ding opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"January first... another new year."

Jiang Ding put away the Taiqing Flying Sword and flew toward Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun's Sky Classroom.

Ever since his maternal grandparents passed away, and his mother and younger sister advanced to Foundation Establishment cultivators, the family rarely celebrated the new year anymore. He always felt time passing so quickly; the moments at the end of one year and the beginning of another no longer seemed so important.

Along the way, one Sky Battleship after another flew past, kicking up fierce winds that made the nearby Lin Hai rustle loudly.

Jiang Ding's gaze lingered on these Sky Battleships for a moment.

Most were over six hundred meters long and over eighty meters wide, about the size of six or seven football fields—fearsome steel behemoths, mostly coated in a grayish-silver color.

Thick, massive cannons were mounted on the bows, their barrels covered in dense, fine runes. Even without being activated, they spontaneously gathered the surrounding world's spiritual energy, involuntarily generating a pressure that could suffocate Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Sky Battleships!

The war heavy weapons of Immortal Gate cultivators!

Cultivators of the same realm could often lock onto and destroy them in a single shot—of course, excluding elite cultivators like the true disciples of Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong.

But this was not the ultimate combat form of Immortal Gate cultivators. Fully equipping large numbers of Sky Fighters and forming cultivator legions was the true method of Immortal Gate combat; even groups of true disciples would be blasted into dust before them.

Only Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong, relying on extraordinary, logic-defying figures of the Dao Son level, could surpass them by a margin.

The battleships gathered, and the Sky Fighters followed.

Jin Jin Lingfeng and An Siyan exchanged a greeting, then piloted their fighters to fly toward their superior battleship. The fighter's formation patterns and the battleship's formation patterns rapidly merged into one, forming a single whole.

"Today is still a division-level military formation drill. The requirement is to master and maintain a quasi-Nascent Soul level military formation under the enemy's Fa Domain."

Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun had long since arrived and casually gave the arrangement.

The Fa Domain spread open, and instantly, an aura of slaughter and spirit-destruction swept out in all directions, controlling spiritual energy and sealing off all the world's spiritual energy—more than enough to effortlessly suppress groups of Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Jin Jin Lingfeng, An Siyan, and the others' breathing hitched; a heavy pressure surged into their hearts, and they lost all perception of the world's spiritual energy outside.

The next moment, numerous battleships roared to life, sending out wave after wave of formation patterns that merged with the formation patterns of the participating Sky Fighters. Formation patterns flickered into and out of being, expanding outward to form a radiant, quasi-Fourth-Order grand formation.

Within the military formation's range, and within several kilometers around it, Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun's will was swept aside, and control over the world's spiritual energy was restored.

A quasi-Fourth-Order formation,

already possessed the ability to seize partial control of the world's spiritual energy from a Nascent Soul's Fa Domain!

Of course, at most it was only slightly self-protective; to contend with a Fa Domain spanning dozens of kilometers was still a fool's dream. One could only say they would not die at a single thought from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Over a hundred Jin Dan cultivators and several tens of thousands of Foundation Establishment students drawn from all over the Immortal Gate to participate in the drill formed six quasi-Nascent Soul level military formations.

This was not their limit.

Every Jing-Ji Gong Fa doctoral student here had the ability to command a quasi-Nascent Soul level military formation. As long as they were given a full complement of regiment-level and battalion-level commanders, along with numerous soldiers, each one was a quasi-Nascent Soul level combatant.

After years of accumulation, the Immortal Gate had many such Jin Dan cultivators.

In the era when the Immortal Gate's Refining Void sequence Jin Dan—also called the Immortal Gate Dao Son—had not yet emerged, it relied on overwhelming, seemingly endless quasi-Nascent Soul level armies and Fourth-Order forbidden nuclear weapons to drive back Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's Dao Sons.

If a Dao Son was careless and expended too much magic power, killing them was within sight.

Of course, this tactic was a last resort; every moment saw massive casualties among Jin Dan and Foundation Establishment cultivators—killing eight hundred of the enemy while losing a thousand of one's own.

Since the Immortal Gate established its hegemonic foundation, it had been a long time since this tactic had been deployed.

"Not bad learning."

Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun's divine sense swept over the six divisions fighting against puppets within the Fa Domain, and he nodded in satisfaction.

He then turned his gaze to a corner of the battlefield.

A young man in blue sat cross-legged and took out a bluish-gem-like treasure pearl.

Under the Fa Domain, it seemed to have no effect on him at all; a gentle breeze brushed his face.

"This is the Immortal Gate's Dao Son."

Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun was even more pleased.

If we want a group beatdown, we have a group beatdown; if we want a one-on-one, we have a one-on-one. Who dares to defy us?

……

Jiang Ding's divine sense surged into the Yinwu Treasure Pearl.

This treasure pearl was refined from a wisp of sword intent of the Yinwu Master Dinghai Zhenjun of the Taiyin Sword Sect. Over the past hundred-plus years, he had challenged it many times, all ending in failure—the only difference being how long he lasted.

Now, after his advancement, the first attempt.

His vision blurred.

The surroundings were hazy, as if he were in a lake, where an elderly woman of advanced years was looking at the lake's surface, her expression calm.

"Yinwu Master Dinghai Zhenjun..."

Jiang Ding's divine sense swept over, and a hint of disappointment appeared on his face.

During Foundation Establishment, he had once thought her an invincible enemy; now it seemed she was nothing more than this.

His divine sense swept over, and he could clearly see she was composed of a wisp of cold sword intent; the surrounding lake was also an illusion—one could appreciate it, or with a raised hand, blast it into a mass of treasure formation patterns.

"Great Sun Sword Son."

"It has been a long time."

The old woman's voice was hoarse, and she seemed to possess spiritual intelligence. She let out a strange laugh: "Although your swordsmanship is clumsy and unbearable, strangely your sword intent is unaffected, no weaker than the Great Sun Sword Sons of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion back then. This old body's wisp of sword intent cannot withstand a single sword strike from you."

"The Eastern Extreme Demon Gate has truly delayed you too much; why not..."

"Come."

Jiang Ding said calmly.

The Taqing Flying Sword drew from its sheath, retracted its sharpness, and slashed down at the old woman's head with a standard basic Sword Control Art slash, condensing sword qi onto one edge of the blade.

"Mist!"

Yinwu Master Dinghai Zhenjun's expression tightened.

Not knowing what treasure-refining method the immortal sect employed, it preserved her intense will to survive; she opened her mouth and exhaled, and thick green mist spread in all directions, obscuring divine sense and will.

The Taqing Flying Sword ignored this sword-intent mist, easily found the core point, and slashed down with one strike.

Ding!

Sparks bloomed; beneath the sword, a green mist long sword appeared on the old woman's forehead, then a second, a third... densely packed, covering several kilometers around, a full nine hundred flying swords forming a unified sword formation.

The immense power of the Taqing Flying Sword, sufficient to instantly sever a high-grade magical treasure, fell upon it, split into two, then two into four... dispersed across the nine hundred-odd flying swords, and then further dispersed into the green mist spanning several kilometers around.

Boom!

Instantly, the green mist exploded; struck by terrible force, it twisted, faded, was forcibly sliced apart, and vanished completely.

Only nine hundred green mist flying swords with dimmed spiritual light remained in place.

"It was merely the sharpness of the flying swords..."

The old woman's face turned deathly pale.

She swept her hand; the nine hundred flying swords clanged, forming a massive sword formation that surrounded the Taqing Flying Sword; within every move and posture, thunderous sounds erupted, with speed unparalleled.

Moreover, streams, ice needles, and other spells suddenly sprang forth within the sword qi to assassinate, keeping the Taqing Flying Sword in a frantic scramble, displaying extreme old cunning.

"Your sword qi thunder sound!"

Jiang Ding's gaze paused; he used only the basic Sword Control Art to counter, sparks blooming where the blades clashed, the clanging of swords erupting continuously, as he carefully comprehended the subtleties of this Master Dinghai Zhenjun's sword art.

Several days later, the nine hundred flying swords of Yinwu Master Dinghai Zhenjun dimmed and collapsed.

Her own body was also sliced in half from the forehead by a single azure flying sword.

Jiang Ding stopped, closed his eyes to review the battle just fought; after a long while, he opened his eyes, looking greatly enriched.

"I have advanced another step toward the second realm of the Sword Dao, Sword Qi Thunder Sound."

Jiang Ding's eyes lit up: "Even a mere lifeless object is like this; if I were to find the Taiyin Sword Disciple and pester her daily to duel, would my sword art not advance by leaps and bounds?"

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