Chapter 574: Jiang Canghai Tianjun Is Here!

A true mountain of gold and a sea of silver had suddenly descended!

Jiang Ding drifted in a long, dreamlike daze, his feet treading on cotton, dizzy and unable to stand steady.

"This…"

It took Jiang Ding a long while to steady his mind and regain his reason. He did not agree at once, but said in a low voice: "This is almost equal to a hundred years of the sect's savings. Isn't it too much? Are we still going to live our days?"

"It's not quite reasonable."

"I don't accept this. I'm appealing."

To him, the sect was not a patron, not a sucker.

It was the very foundation of his existence!

Without the sect, to say nothing of safety and sentiment, he wouldn't even know who to turn to for the deduction of his Gong Fa.

Even an unrivaled prodigy would despair before such a vast, smoke-sea-like task of deduction — this was the work of countless generations of sword cultivators in the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, completed over tens of thousands of years.

Among the Badaxian Sect, the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Sect, Brother Brother Xuanwu's Heavenly Palace, and the Shadow Demon Abyss were directly hostile, massing troops on the border. The remaining major immortal sects claimed neutrality, yet were stirring restlessly, teetering on the edge of hostility and non-hostility.

"Citizen, please comply."

Putting himself in others' shoes, as the master of a small faction, Jiang Ding felt that the sect was giving a Jin Dan cultivator far too much — this was not what a faction capable of long-term development should do.

No diplomat, no expert in inter-domain relations, could guarantee that the other side would not declare war the next moment.

No forceful seizure, only the utmost protection and guidance to help this Qi Refining cultivator grow, advance to Jin Dan, and then return the Soul Transformation Gong Fa he had comprehended — and that would be the end of it.

Anyone who dared to disobey would be beaten to death on the spot.

"Furthermore, the issuance of the reward has fully taken into account the sect's actual expenditure and the value of the relevant knowledge. There is no problem whatsoever."

"Your request has been overruled."

"Whether in good faith or ill will, for any reason, under any pretext, compliance is mandatory. This is iron-clad law."

Jiang Ding fell silent.

The voice of the Central Array Spirit Computer came through: "The First Law of the sect is the foundation of the sect's existence. No violation shall be tolerated."

Just like the Master Tushan Xiancheng faction he had once belonged to — if a Qi Refining cultivator had offered up a Soul Transformation Gong Fa, he too would not have used his entire century's income to reward the other party.

Rewarding a Jin Dan cultivator with so much was simply not right.

When the two parties differed in scale so vastly, involving the very survival of hundreds of millions of people, fairness was not the foremost consideration.

A long while passed.

Under such circumstances, handing out nearly a hundred years of fiscal surplus at once carried considerable risk. This was not a wise decision.

"This is the resolution of the Supreme Council of the sect, under the supervision of the Central Array Spirit Computer."

Jiang Ding did not feel himself morally base either.

On the contrary, glancing around at the cultivators from other realms, he believed himself to be a cultivator of lofty virtue — nearly a sage among cultivators, a perfect cultivator.

Let alone talk of fairness.

The current situation of the sect was not as steady as Taishan.

He faced the Martyrs' Monument on the Immortal Capital Plaza and bowed deeply to the ground.

"The breadth of spirit of the sages is beyond my reach."

"Compared to them, I am but a grain of rice-pearl under the great sun, a speck of dust in the world — not one ten-thousandth of what they were."

Jiang Ding sighed long.

In his mind he recalled: since the First Generation Chief Administrator, how many martyrs had rushed forward in succession, heedless of their own safety. The vision of these great figures of history reached a terrifyingly long distance.

In mere tens of thousands of years, they had laid the foundation of a hegemon of the realms.

This was no coincidence.

Just like the rise of the Falling Void Sect of the Northern Plains, there was a certain inevitability to it.

"Confirmed. Clearly understood."

Jiang Ding gathered his thoughts and said in a low voice.

"Reward is being issued…"

"Issuance successful. This year's twenty billion Library Points have been deposited into your account. Please check and confirm."

The voice of the Central Array Spirit Computer came through,

and immediately, around the Golden Emperor Scroll, invisible Laws wrapped it layer upon layer, and the painting scroll gradually vanished without a trace.

This scroll would be stored in the heavily protected Immortal Capital Library. Any citizen who had not been stripped of political rights, upon proving they possessed the ability to read, could read and comprehend it.

For the present, even under layers of protective measures, only Soul Transformation cultivators could comprehend even a fraction of it.

Once these — the most intelligent, most creative cultivators in the sect's history — gained something from it, the sect's Immortal Dao science and technology in certain areas would advance by leaps and bounds, exploding in growth.

Of course, it was also possible they would gain nothing at all and suffer heavy losses.

Such was the way of many things in Immortal Dao science.

Even when the direction was known and tremendous effort expended, whether it would succeed, and when, were both unknown.

Just like the eternal "fifty years to practical fusion" phenomenon in scientific development, over ten thousand years ago.

But one could not refrain from doing it simply because heavy losses and nothing gained were possible.

The progress of Immortal Dao science advanced bit by bit through such unceasing exploration, never giving up.

The Central Array Spirit Computer departed.

The Silver Sky Island dormitory returned to its private state, undisturbed by anyone.

"Twenty billion Library Points…"

Jiang Ding logged into the Library app to check his account. Staring at that long string of zeros, he drew in a deep breath — the heart he had just calmed began to surge again, qi and blood rushing upward.

It was just like over a hundred and fifty years ago, back in high school — no composure whatsoever.

By rough conversion, four hundred billion low-grade spirit stones.

"Exchange them for spirit stones?"

"The Library Points market is still very stable right now."

A thought surfaced in Jiang Ding's mind.

"Bullshit!"

"Vulgar, vulgar, utterly vulgar! Vulgar beyond endurance!"

"A Great Sun Sword-Seed of the immortal gate, the great Jiang Canghai Tianjun, a true immortal of the future — does he look like someone who lacks spirit stones? Impossible, there's no way."

Jiang Ding gave a disdainful smile, tossed the thought out of his mind, flung it far away, lest it lower his bearing.

"Great Sun Nascent Soul Secret Art!"

Without much thought, this thing — lying across his Dao path like an iron mountain too hard to cross — surfaced in his heart.

If this problem could not be solved, he would remain forever at the peak of Jin Dan, and would die of old age at six hundred.

"Central Array Spirit Computer, please calculate: after investing an additional twenty billion Library Points per year for deduction, what is the research and development time for the Great Sun Nascent Soul Secret Art?"

Jiang Ding asked.

In the past, ordinary questions were fine, but once it involved massive computation, and once it confirmed he was in no danger, the Central Array Spirit Computer would not bother with such questions.

"Deducting Library Points, please confirm the bill…"

The voice of the Central Array Spirit Computer came through.

Jiang Ding didn't even look at the amount, casually signing his name on it.

"Please wait…"

More than two months later, the calculation result appeared.

"Investing ten billion Library Points per year can shorten the time by forty-six point seven percent; only one thousand nine hundred and seventy-two years would be needed to have a relatively high chance of completion."

"Investing more Library Points beyond that yields no further benefit."

"Please note, this is only a relatively high probability. It involves the Sword Dao, and related Sword Dao materials are scarce; the deduction accuracy of the Central Array Spirit Computer is insufficient."

"Understood."

Jiang Ding nodded.

The remaining Library Points, he also planned to spend.

Hire many Soul Transformation cultivators to work for him.

Give them Library Points, and they would be very happy, and it would not delay their own cultivation and research — Library Points could make up for everything.

This was Void Refinement-grade computing power.

(End of this chapter)