Chapter 501

Watching the nanobots return to the Wei family, Jiang Ding severed the connection and vanished into a place of profound depth, hidden underground where even Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation cultivators' spiritual sense could not penetrate.

Silver Sky Island dormitory.

The Sun God Tree pierced the heavens, radiant and magnificent, absorbing and filtering the spiritual energy within a fifty-kilometer radius, nurturing its own body before channeling it into the magnetic patterns at his brow.

Within these magnetic patterns lay a space nearly a kilometer across.

The spiritual energy and solar essence flowed through this space unchanged, continuing into the meridians and dantian, refined into electromagnetic magic power of the Wan Hua Ci Yuan Jing.

"It seems some substance within the spiritual energy is being absorbed by this space?"

Jiang Ding carefully sensed it—he had practiced for nearly a decade since ascending to Jin Dan, and only now did he detect subtle signs.

Lián Xū, according to the shallow surface materials he'd read from the Immortal Sect, seemed related to refining space.

The Tai Qing Flying Sword and Da Ri Flying Sword are said to increase the chance of Lián Xū by at least thirty percent; those who succeed are crowned Da Ri Chun Jian Zi by the Da Ri Sword Pavilion, becoming its sole heir, second only to the patriarch.

"Is Lián Xū connected to this space at my brow?"

Jiang Ding repeatedly scanned the space with his spiritual sense, comparing it to library records, and speculated.

Mei Xin Yin.

The deceased Chong Chong Guang Zi had it; the previous Da Ri Chun Jian Zi who fled to another realm had it; he had it too—born during Qi Condensation, it could already hold a flying sword; after Foundation Establishment, it could contain the electromagnetic main cannon of an aerial combat aircraft.

The difference was that Chong Chong Guang Zi and the others had Da Ri Yin marks on their brows, while his own was a magnetic pattern mark—a difference caused by the Gen Ben Gong Fa.

Something all three generations of Da Ri Chun Jian Zi possessed cannot be mere coincidence.

"Sigh. Impossible to determine."

Jiang Ding said, somewhat dejected.

The Immortal Sect's research into Lián Xū is extremely lacking; all speculation remains speculation, unable to be turned into reality, let alone further refined, cultivated, or enhanced—this thing crucial to Lián Xū potential.

"We'll deal with it later."

"What level of cultivation brings what kind of thoughts. Thinking too much now is merely self-inflicted trouble."

Jiang Ding shook his head, dispelling the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

The Da Ri space at his brow… perhaps calling it an electromagnetic space is more appropriate; it is undoubtedly an important thing—not merely an extra place to refine and store flying swords—but currently cannot be fully utilized.

At the same time, it revealed a downside.

During cultivation, it absorbs a certain component from spiritual energy for its own growth, further slowing Jiang Ding's cultivation speed.

"Oh well."

"Cultivation speed… slowed by about sixty to seventy percent. It'll take another decade or so to reach Jin Dan Zhong Qi—the original estimate was off."

Jiang Ding chuckled self-deprecatingly, but wasn't truly worried.

Foundation,

Foundation.

One building a house of earth, brick, and tile—where Nascent Soul and Jin Dan are the ultimate goals—needs only a foundation dug a few meters deep, laid with stones, gravel, and cement.

But if building a skyscraper a kilometer tall, one must dig hundreds, even thousands of meters deep.

The labor required for a skyscraper's foundation exceeds that of thousands of earth-brick-tile foundations combined.

For those aspiring to Lián Xū or even immortality, no amount of foundation-strengthening is excessive—it is only proper.

As for the slowed cultivation speed,

Even if burdened further, he could still reach Jin Dan Peak before four or five hundred years—no need to rush, no need to fight against Heaven's decree.

After finishing cultivation,

Jiang Ding took out several tons of iron and copper ingots from his storage jade pendant, refined them with Jin Dan dantian fire and Ri Yan Jing, combined with many lava fruits harvested in Master Tushan Xiancheng, extracting sharp iron essence and copper essence, then refining them with Synthetic Synthetic Gengjin's Synthetic Gengjin qi to temper the Tai Qing Flying Sword.

Flames rose; with spiritual sense as brush and myriad metals as ink, he engraved a series of sealing arrays within the crimson Tai Qing Flying Sword, connecting them to the previous twelve Di Sha sealing arrays.

Over these six years, the Da Ri Dayang Tianchi Lian Chun Jian Fa and Da Ri Divine Seals had become second nature to him—he no longer handled them with the caution of his early days, and even had spare attention to monitor the movements of another Yan Fa Ling Kui.

…

Rongcheng.

Jiang Ding flew through the sky, gazing down at the occasional sword halls beneath him—the Giant Rock Sword Hall, the Gale Sword Hall, the Bright Light Sword Hall, and others—while Wei Hu walked beside him, respectfully accompanying.

Six years—the time a Jin Dan cultivator spends on a few cultivations.

To mortals, however, it was a long stretch—a gap between elementary school and university, enough time for many things to happen.

"Senior, thanks to your annual investment of one million spiritual stones, and more crucially, your personal instruction of mortal and Qi Condensation sword instructors, now in the Immortal Sect's cold weapon Gaokao, sword accounts for fifty to sixty percent."

Wei Hu spoke respectfully, taking no credit, fully aware of his own strength.

"Especially your Ban Nian Yi Qi sword instructor training classes—after graduation, they easily dominate all cold weapon instructors on the Immortal Sect market, including teachers at public middle and high schools across the Sect, creating a vast gap."

"After the first batch of sword training class instructors graduated, in just the first year's Immortal Sect Gaokao, their students flooded into the top thousand of the cold weapon exam, shouting the sword hall's slogan before and after every battle."

"Students trained by sword instructors frequently challenged opponents of higher levels and won."

Wei Hu recalled the scene: "It immediately caused a sensation within the Immortal Sect. Before the cold weapon Gaokao was even half over, phone calls from parents across the Sect poured in endlessly—we were overwhelmed for a long time, and had to temporarily purchase customer service spirit array services just to handle them."

"The sword halls became household names overnight."

He wore an expression of utter inevitability, showing no surprise.

A Jin Dan cultivator personally teaching for half a year!

The Immortal Sect's top cold weapon expert, crushing technical superiority!

And no suppression from rival factions.

If under these conditions you still couldn't crush your competitors and produce results, you might as well buy a block of tofu and head-butt it to death.

"Six years later, through franchising and cooperation, sword halls now dot the entire Immortal Sect—every county has one, and their instructors are graduates of your Jin Dan sword training program or their disciples, all vetted and meeting baseline standards."

"In Rongcheng alone, there are eleven sword training classes—one opened by your direct student, the other ten by the students of those instructors."

Wei Hu pointed to a sign below reading "Xia Shi Sword Hall" and introduced it.

Jiang Ding's spiritual sense swept over it—over thirty Gao Zhongsheng and Gao Zhongsheng trained under a young woman with wheat-colored skin, sweating profusely as they practiced the Thirteen Basic Sword Forms, occasionally incorporating techniques from the Chu Ying Qi Fei Chun Jian Jian Jue, refining their meridians with every sword strike.

Jiang Ding nodded slightly.

Compared to the unbearable swordsmanship of a few years ago, this time it finally looked proper, no longer rushing for quick success or taking a biased path with the sword.

"Senior."

Wei Hu hesitated for a moment, then said: "There are many children of Foundation Establishment and Jin Dan seniors, even children of Nascent Soul seniors, who wish to register at the Sword Dao Hall to receive your training and improve their Gaokao scores."

"What do you think..."

"Refuse."

Jiang Ding said without much hesitation.

The only reason he wasted time teaching these students was that he valued their teaching ability, which could spread swordsmanship and enhance the sword Dao atmosphere of the Immortal Sects; it was certainly not for favors or spirit stones.

As for the Gaokao, targeting Qi Condensation cultivators and mortals, what the hell spirit stones could there be?

As for favors,

his time was very precious; he did not need them for now.

"Yes, I understand."

Wei Hu looked troubled and hesitated again: "There is a student from Shu Du No. 7 Middle School. She is somewhat special; she is the grandchild of the Panda Ancestor Hua Hua Lingling, named Hua Hua Xiaohua. She is a very cute panda, has been awakened for over ten years, possesses citizen rights, and plans to take the Gaokao in three years. Should this person receive the same response?"

Two

(End of this chapter)