Chapter 85

That day,

All high-ranking members of the Green Dragon Gang, the Starlight Society, and others close to Princess Chen Xi of Qinghe were killed; all major officials of Chizhou Prefecture were killed; the governor’s mansion and the funeral halls of Wan You were reduced to ashes in a great fire, not a single trace remaining.

The entire world was stunned.

Even now, though chaos had just begun to emerge—Marquis Zhendong had carved out his own territory and seized lands everywhere—this was the first time a powerful martial artist had slaughtered an entire prefectural government in a fit of rage.

The Yue Kingdom’s imperial court erupted in fury, placing the Purple Star Sword Sect and the “Ten Flower Sword Immortals” on the most wanted list; anyone who captured them would be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!

Yet everyone knew this was futile.

Preemptive-level experts were nearly impossible to kill unless trapped by overwhelming armies; even if multiple preemptive experts were deployed, one slip would let the target escape—there was simply no way to stop them.

Only a Grandmaster could handle it.

Unfortunately, the imperial family had long since lost its Grandmaster-level strength; otherwise, it would not have lost control over the realm.

Even the Purple Star Sword Sect had scattered the moment Wan Qianyu stepped out of seclusion and descended the mountain; they would not show their faces again until a new dynasty was established.

Jiang Ding watched silently as the man ran rampant through Chizhou Prefecture, making no move.

First, though he was certain he could hold his own against a preemptive expert for a short time, he had no guarantee he could defeat and kill one—any misstep would bring great trouble.

Challenging a higher realm is never wise.

Second, Governor Chen Zheng and all the Chizhou Prefecture officials deserved to die!

Greedy beyond measure, corrupt and incompetent, they had caused famine to spread across the land, forcing people to flee, sell their children, while they holed up in the prefectural city pretending all was well, showing not a single thought of relief.

Their deaths were a great blessing—why should they be saved?

Unfortunately, he lacked the power to change Chizhou Prefecture.

It required a clean, idealistic organization built on principle, strict oversight, and a technological explosion in progress.

Otherwise, everything would remain a cycle of order and chaos.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and resumed cultivation.

For over a dozen days,

Chizhou Prefecture, stripped of order, plunged into massive chaos: factions fought over territory, minor and major officials battled for power, the Wolf God Sect and Zhendong Marquis’s spies and infiltrators stirred up trouble—every day brought attacks and counterattacks.

Jiang Ding’s place, however, remained calm; no one paid attention to this secluded courtyard, and he often went seven or eight days without stepping outside—no one even knew if anyone lived there.

On this day, he opened his eyes, and a flash of white light vanished instantly.

“The twelve regular meridians of the Great Zhou Tian have been partially refined and nourished.”

Jiang Ding silently felt his internal force flow through the twelve regular meridians and their twelve thousand minor branches, cycling endlessly, forming a complex and precise internal energy system.

Yet, when passing through the eight internal energy nodes, its speed dropped sharply, forced to detour over many times the distance—this drastically reduced the entire system’s efficiency.

The Eight Extraordinary Meridians!

Du Mai, Ren Mai, Chong Mai, Dai Mai, Yin Wei Mai, Yang Wei Mai, Yin Qiao Mai, Yang Qiao Mai!

These were the barrier that blocked most martial artists—lifetime failure to break through meant their potential was exhausted!

Jiang Ding’s mind shifted; internal energy surged from his dantian vortex, gathering strength from every point, like rivers converging into the sea—twelve thousand internal energy branches from the twelve regular meridians merged into a mighty river, rushing downward!

BOOM!

In his invisible soul, a tremendous tremor arose; with a single surge, the Du Mai barrier trembled, unstable and on the verge of collapse.

A bottleneck?

Before such a vast foundation of internal energy, what was a bottleneck?

Second attempt.

BOOM!

The Du Mai barrier shattered, completely breached; internal energy flooded into its countless minor branches, skillfully refining and nourishing them.

Jiang Ding’s meridians burned with sharp pain—he immediately understood: he could break through only one barrier per day, and needed time to rest and let his meridians recover.

Simultaneously, his aura fluctuated—sometimes dazzlingly strong, sometimes nearly nonexistent—finally approaching complete stillness.

The Lesser Concealment Art reached perfection!

“Finally perfected. Now, with a high-grade reconnaissance camouflage device, I should be able to mask myself from most cultivators’ spiritual senses and radar scans.”

“Also, breaking the bottleneck and nourishing the eight extraordinary meridians’ eight thousand minor branches will take a little over two months; advancing to Great Zhou Tian will take a little over two months.”

Jiang Ding thought silently.

Not long at all.

Besides, in a few days, once he obtained the Blue Gold Serum, his cultivation speed would change again.

But now it was time to sleep—tomorrow was final exams.

……

Ding dong… ding dong…

“Exam has begun. Please begin answering…”

In Class One’s classroom, absolute silence reigned—only the scratch of pens on paper and the rustle of turning exam sheets could be heard.

Jiang Ding’s internal energy flowed automatically through his entire body, constantly refining and nourishing every branch of the Du Mai, while his mind focused entirely on the Chinese exam questions, writing down one spiritual character after another.

As he worked through each question, his confidence grew.

Aside from mathematics, which had improved significantly due to his talisman sword, his performance in other subjects would rise only slightly from the midterms—this required time and accumulation.

Unless he advanced to Preemptive.

After reaching Preemptive, his internal force would transform into a state akin to magic power, and his soul would undergo a qualitative change, driven by his physical body—just as a cultivator transitions from mortal to Qi Refining.

At that point, learning ability, memory, logical thinking—all would surge dramatically, and so would his grades.

The final exams lasted three days, covering Chinese, mathematics, ideological and moral education, biology, heavy machine gun shooting, and more. At the end, class monitor Hua Bing gathered all his classmates under the excited gazes of his peers.

“It’s ten oh five now. In one hour, the Ministry of Education’s Jin Dan cultivator’s aerospace warship will arrive over the skies of dozens of cities, including Rongcheng, providing us with Grand Void Illusion technology support.”

“The practical exam will last from three to seven days. You have ten minutes to notify your families.”

“By ten thirty at the latest, everyone must be in position inside the equipment pods—failure to do so will result in a zero for the practical exam.”

Hua Bing looked at each student, confirming they had heard clearly.

“Jin Dan cultivator elders!”

Many gasped in awe: “Monitor, can we see the Jin Dan elders? I’ve never seen a living Jin Dan cultivator in my life.”

“Probably not,” Hua Bing shook his head. “The aerospace warship hovers ten thousand meters above ground and departs immediately after the exam.”

“Oh!”

Everyone sighed in disappointment.

Jiang Ding called Lin Wanqiu to explain the exam situation, then walked with his classmates toward the Grand Void Illusion login room near the cultivation chambers.

The heavy metal door slowly opened, revealing row upon row of two-meter-long metal equipment pods. Students from Class Two and Three, including Gong Sun Ling, had also arrived—but their pods were in two other rooms.

“Looks like metal coffins. Ugly.”

“Indeed.”

Li Junhao grumbled, earning nods of agreement from many.

“If you later live and work in first- or second-tier cities, you can buy and decorate your own Grand Void Illusion equipment pod.”

Hua Bing explained, demonstrating how to enter the pod, how to check if the equipment was functioning properly, and what to do if damage occurred—report it to the proctor immediately.

Human souls are fragile and complex; entering the Grand Void environment requires Jin Dan cultivators to assist and protect—only major cities have such conditions.

A few Jin Dan cultivators, aided by instruments, can safeguard many people at once.

Of course, it’s not impossible to use Grand Void Illusion pods without a Jin Dan cultivator—just accept a 0.5–0.6% fatality rate; many cultivators from protected minor realms do exactly that.

Any abnormal death—whether of a mortal or a cultivator—in any sect triggers a strict investigation.

Jiang Ding followed Hua Bing’s example and stepped into the equipment pod.