Chapter 669: The Great Harm to the Sword Dao

"Iron Sword True Person, it is a pity; you were originally capable of comprehending Sword Intent."

"It seems he was secretly harmed by someone."

Jiang Ding sheathed his sword and shook his head slightly, saying.

Fellow Jin Dan cultivators of the same realm, who practiced a Gong Fa that seemed deliberately spread by the Great Sun Qingse Jianzong to cultivate potential disciples as a lower-tier method; in his eyes, their dantians and even their divine souls held no secrets.

One glance was enough to see ninety percent of the situation, even more clearly than they themselves knew.

Guo Kai, the Iron Sword True Person,

the purity of his divine soul, the intensity of his battle will, the firmness of his Dao heart, and the refinement of his magic power had all reached the standard for comprehending Sword Intent; he had walked out of countless piles of corpses, faced powerful enemies and boldly drew his sword to charge forward, possessing the necessary resolve.

People like this are the true disciples of the Great Sun Qingse Jianzong.

Those inner sect disciples, outer sect disciples, elders, and guest elders, although physically within the sect and closer to the Great Sun Qingse Jianzong, could not compare to him.

On Guo Kai's divine soul, there was a faint, hidden injury, barely perceptible.

It was precisely this hidden injury that obstructed the qualitative transformation of his divine soul and the comprehension of Sword Intent; he had remained stagnant for years, from Jin Dan Chu Qi to the peak of Jin Dan, wasting hundreds of years, unable to take a single step into the core of the Great Sun Qingse Jianzong, and finally driven to madness.

"Digging out the sect's foundation to fatten oneself, does that feeling intoxicate you?"

Jiang Ding sighed.

Individual interests and sect interests are not always consistent; conflicts arise from time to time.

If supervision is not strict, such things often happen.

This is human nature; no one can avoid it.

Even immortal sects cannot avoid such things; supervision always has loopholes, and people seize the opportunity to collude with external enemies and enrich themselves.

Immediately, he collected the storage bags of Guo Kai and the others; not only did this recover the loss from the auction of the Scorching Sun Copper, but there was also a great surplus.

"A no-cost business yields such exorbitant profits, second only to ruling..."

Jiang Ding began to clean the battlefield.

Unlike his usual cleaning, he did not completely erase all traces of aura; instead, he collected the magical treasures and corpses of Guo Kai and the others, erased most of the aura, and left behind a few traces—

according to the standard of a talented and powerful Jin Dan rogue cultivator who barely survived a desperate battle to defeat and kill Guo Kai and the others, achieving a narrow victory.

Such traces are quite difficult.

Leaving behind traces of aura, destruction of the terrain, residual waves of spells, inconspicuous sword marks, and so on, is quite complex; every aspect must be considered.

For Jiang Ding, who had studied concealment spells in detail, it was manageable; the experiences of many sages from the immortal sects could be directly applied, and he finished it in a few minutes.

Everything was done.

Jiang Ding partially concealed his form and shot away like a streak of smoke towards the distance.

The reason for partially concealing his form was that he could not block the tracking on the Scorching Sun Copper, nor could he activate his full concealment abilities; this did not fit the identity of a rogue cultivator.

Here, it calmed down.

After a long while, a mountain wind blew, and a figure in a black robe appeared at the spot.

Although he wore a black robe, a wide-brimmed hat, and concealed his aura tightly, he showed not a shred of the timidity one expects from someone doing evil; his back was straight, as if he did not fear being discovered, lacking the self-awareness a 'thief' should have.

"These rogue cultivators..."

The black-robed figure coldly gazed at various places, glancing at a few spots that seemed well-hidden, revealing a look of mockery.

He did not bend down to carefully examine and confirm traces like upturned soil or broken branches; he swept his divine sense over them and passed, possessing absolute confidence, looking down upon the surroundings.

"He is over there,"

The black-robed figure looked in the direction Jiang Ding had departed.

"Seems to be a desolate land with no spiritual veins? Eight out of ten cultivators are like this; nothing new."

The black-robed figure showed no surprise; his divine sense swept over the tracking mark flashing in his sea of consciousness: "He should try continuously for over ten years, attempting to refine it, but eventually he will discover that only constant fighting, bloody battles, and slaughter can slowly refine the Scorching Sun Copper; at that time, he will have no choice but to emerge from seclusion."

"Ten years..."

"Too long; make it three years. My Master is becoming increasingly urgent, pressing hard; by then, create some accidents."

"This person could kill Guo Kai; his strength must not be weak. He is an excellent sword-refining furnace. If not dealt with, he might comprehend Sword Intent, which would be troublesome."

"Core disciples cannot be insulted, cannot be killed; this is the bottom line."

"Otherwise, no one can protect me; that old thing will immediately discard me, draw a clear line, and be untrustworthy."

The black-robed figure cast a spell, clearing away most of the few remaining traces left here until they vanished, then flew towards another furnace location.

He occasionally dispatched subordinates and employed many methods.

Fortuitous encounters, cave dwellings of predecessors, auctions, finding treasures in broken pottery, natural sword marks...

Upon the earth, many opportunities were scattered, falling precisely into the hands of those with good sword talent; they carefully pondered them, comprehending the ultimate truths of the Sword Dao, and from time to time, someone would laugh excitedly.

Scene after scene transformed into flashing marks falling into the black-robed figure's sea of consciousness.

The black-robed figure walked everywhere, occasionally arranging opportunities with heavenly treasures and earthly gifts, recognition and enlightenment from predecessors, or enemies coming to the door, slaughtering the entire clan, leaving only one person to flee with deep hatred, swearing to comprehend Sword Intent and make the enemy's entire family wish for life but find death impossible...

And so on.

Some eventually achieved results; others exploded with a boom, and everything turned to ash.

The black-robed figure was like a diligent farmer, shuttling through various places, mobilizing forces everywhere, watering, fertilizing, or pinching off seedlings, cultivating sword-shaped spiritual plants, expecting to harvest fruit the following autumn to advance his cultivation further.

He did not notice a gaze hidden in the void, quietly following him, watching everything he did.

"This... is the great harm to the Sword Dao of this world."

"He must be killed."

Jiang Ding felt a flicker of killing intent rise in his heart and pronounced judgment.

"Everyone involved must die; otherwise, the Sword Dao cannot grow."

If this world is viewed as a field of spiritual energy.

A vast number of Sword Dao cultivators fight and grow within it; various Sword Dao wisdoms collide and are born, becoming one of the foundations of the Sword Dao of this world.

A single cultivator is inconspicuous.

Countless sword Dao cultivators, accumulating tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, their sword Dao wisdom and achievements would likely inspire even True Immortals, their value immeasurable.

Yet now, pests have appeared.

Their existence not only fails to increase the world's sword Dao wisdom, but instead suppresses the growth of this world's sword Dao; a single pest is harmful, but the damage is not great.

The current situation is that the pests are breeding, expanding, seeking to suppress the development of the sword Dao,

even seeking to destroy the very foundation of the sword Dao!

Know that the sword Dao wisdom of this world, as it stands now, appears to have no owner.

However, from a long-term perspective, perhaps it has already been stamped with the character for "Jiang" (three dots of water plus a "work" character).

"Damn it!"

"So shameless!"

Jiang Ding cursed in his heart: "This is my money, my future sword Dao foundation! The sword Dao geniuses who might one day create sword techniques that inspire my inspiration are already dead because of you, do you understand?"

"If your sword intent is weak, just practice more! Don't mess with all this nonsense."

"Every single one of you, remember this; in the future, no one will escape!"

(End of this chapter)