Chapter 944

Jiang Ding played with the thread of Yin-Yang Magnetic Divine Light between his fingers, examining it closely for a long time before placing it upon the Taiqing Flying Sword.

Cute cartoon hands extended from the smooth blue-gold blade of the Taiqing Flying Sword, grasping the divine light and slowly dragging it inward, followed by crisp, crunching chewing sounds.

Many True Persons visualized a scene: a cute and innocent little girl hugging a strand of divine light, crunching it down with relish.

Jiang Ding stared at the Taiqing Flying Sword.

Its essence began shifting toward the form of Magnetic Light, yet it was not quite light—only an energy form, lacking wave-particle duality and other characteristics of starlight physics, differing greatly from cosmic physical laws.

Overall, the sword’s “air resistance” and “spatial drag” dropped dramatically, making it significantly faster.

Even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it nearly impossible to see the Taiqing Flying Sword in flight; many early Soul Transformation cultivators were no different.

Jiang Ding emerged from his thoughts and calculations, looking down from the ninety-ninth step.

True Persons Tianyang, Xu Fang, Qingyun, Yin Dao, Bingxue, Yunyu, and other Nascent Soul cultivators stood in solemn salute, motionless as statues, not even breathing—so quiet a pin could be heard falling.

The number: one hundred eighty-seven.

This number exceeds that of the Western Desert Demon Lords; for the first time, human cultivators held numerical superiority among Nascent Soul cultivators, many of whom radiated confidence.

Over the past two centuries, the Northern Plains had developed rapidly across all industries, flourishing immensely, with Nascent Soul True Persons emerging like spring bamboo shoots after rain, internal competition intensifying sharply.

Two hundred years ago, a single early Nascent Soul cultivator could claim a fourth-rank spiritual vein and establish a sect.

Today, early Nascent Soul cultivators could no longer compare to their predecessors; they could only humbly serve in various posts across the Central Court, sharing its fourth-rank spiritual veins.

Yet this was not poverty.

No one wished to return to the old era.

Though their status had lowered, early Nascent Soul cultivators now received far more spirit stones, heavenly treasures, elixirs, and magic treasures than they ever had as lone cultivators.

Former sect masters, for all their lofty titles, were merely lords of barren veins—nothing but a fourth-rank spiritual vein and nothing else.

Fourth-rank elixirs, magic treasures, and talismans had to be painstakingly gathered and forged by oneself; compared to the superpower of Tu Mountain Central Court, it was like heaven versus earth—even as just one among hundreds of True Persons.

“Jianzi, may we dispatch troops to the Western Desert?”

True Person Tianyang pleaded.

Though he was a spell cultivator, his eagerness to fight seemed even stronger than that of sword cultivators—he could barely contain himself; the circle of spell-cultivating True Persons around him shared the same burning desire for opportunity in the Western Desert.

As for sword-cultivating True Persons like Xu Fang, their killing intent boiled over, yet they contained it within, appearing strangely calm.

Emotions surged, then retracted inward, leaving him strangely calm.

“It’s ready.”

Jiang Ding nodded lightly: “But we are not dispatching troops to the Western Desert.”

Jiang Ding nodded slightly: “But we are not launching troops to the Western Desert.”

True Person Tianyang stared in shock.

Xu Fang, Lieyang, and other sword-cultivating True Persons revealed expressions of excitement.

“It is—to dispatch troops to every place beyond the Northern Plains.”

Jiang Ding said slowly.

“Everywhere in this world, wherever humanity suffers injustice, wherever evil cultivators harm the people, wherever cultish worship deceives the common folk…”

“Anywhere in this world, wherever humanity suffers injustice, wherever heretical cultivators harm the people, wherever illicit cults deceive the common folk…”

“To restore to all living beings a clear and bright world!”

“To restore to all living beings a bright and clear world!”

Every place in this world?!

The Nascent Soul True Persons held their breath.

“Yes, Tianjun!”

Then, every True Person’s eyes blazed with fanaticism; their shouts rose like tidal waves, forming gales that swept in all directions.

Under the will of Tu Mountain Central Court,

Jin Dan cultivators across the Northern Plains, along with Foundation Establishment peak cultivators, began converging upon Tu Mountain Central Court—yes, even Foundation Establishment peak was now the minimum requirement for enlistment.

In Tu Mountain’s Three Armies, the weakest soldiers were Foundation Establishment peak cultivators; any weaker, and they had no place.

Not being allowed to enlist was no stroke of luck.

Countless subsidies, merits, and opportunities for advancement vanished; for a cultivator, this was more terrifying than death.

One by one, Northern Plains Foundation Establishment and Jin Dan cultivators, like ants, rushed toward Tu Mountain Central Court via flight, teleportation arrays, and other means.

Elsewhere, this scale went unnoticed,

But near the Six Dao Sect, where Tu Mountain Central Court had established its seat, one could see waves of armored cultivators pouring in, covering the sky and earth, drawn instinctively by the aura of military formations—each having endured over a century of brutal formation training, nearly second nature.

These millions of cultivators gathered together, without even forming battle arrays, radiated a terrifying, crushing aura that left Nascent Soul True Persons gasping and Soul Transformation cultivators bracing themselves.

Simultaneously with conscripting cultivators from all regions, Tu Mountain Central Court opened its centuries-old storerooms, distributing stacks of talismans, bottles of elixirs, and countless magic weapons and treasures to every soldier in the armies.

All were standardized elixirs, standardized weapons and artifacts.

But this did not mean poor quality.

On the contrary, nearly all were top-tier masterpieces, rarely seen on the open market.

These items flowed like water into the hands of every soldier, arming them to the teeth.

These items were distributed like flowing water to every soldier in the armies, arming them to the teeth.

The Northern Plains’ total mobilization could not be hidden; it instantly alarmed the other three realms, forcing them to act.

The Ice Plain Tianjun had waited long in the Western Desert, but Xī Píng’ān—who had once been so eager to persuade her to destroy the Six Dao Sect—never came. Her heart grew uneasy.

After much thought, her avatar traveled to the Eastern Sea, arriving at the incense deity court suspended high in the sky.

This incense deity court resembled an elliptical sun, radiating boundless searing light, feared by countless Soul Transformation cultivators who dared not enter it personally—not even the Ice Plain Tianjun, who, despite the urgency, dared send only her avatar.

Without delay, the Ice Plain Tianjun was granted an audience with Xī Píng’ān, passing through layers of mighty sword-armored divine generals.

She found him seated upon a radiant golden sword throne.

“Congratulations, Dao Friend!”

The Ice Plain Tianjun smiled brightly upon meeting him: “That villain has finally left the Six Dao Sect, revealing his ambitions—this is the perfect moment for the three of us to join forces and kill him…”

The Ice Plain True Lord smiled with delight upon meeting them: “That villain has finally left the Six Paths Sect, exposing his ambitions — this is the perfect moment for the three of us to join forces and annihilate him…”

Previously, Xī Píng’ān had relentlessly urged her and the Southern Wasteland’s Baizhu Tianjun to jointly assassinate Tu Mountain Tianjun, even willing to assault the heavily fortified Six Dao Sect’s defenses.

He had even presented a strict Dao Covenant, offering immense sacrifices: promising to take not a single share of the spoils, and even providing vast quantities of fifth-rank heavenly treasures, allowing her and the other to freely choose from the Eastern Sea Divine Court’s treasury.

Such heavy costs, combined with detailed warnings of Tu Mountain Tianjun’s danger and future threat—appealing to emotion and reason—were all aimed at uniting them to kill Tu Mountain Tianjun.

Yet, for various reasons, the Ice Plain Tianjun and Baizhu Tianjun had refused.

Reasons were many: mutual distrust, suspicion of traps, lingering doubts, contentment with their current state, unwillingness to risk change, waiting for better timing, and so on.

Tianjuns possessed immense experience, having lived for thousands to nearly ten thousand years, with firm, unyielding Dao hearts; persuading them with words alone, without overwhelming power, was nearly impossible.

Now, the Ice Plain Tianjun had come to him herself.

She believed he would immediately agree—after all, he had been so eager before.

Yet the golden-armored deity upon the throne merely stared coldly at the Ice Phoenix Clan Tianjun, saying nothing.

His massive golden pupils seemed to hold violent killing intent, mockery, and fury.

Long moments passed in silence.

“Dao Friend, what do you mean?”

The Ice Plain Tianjun’s heart sank.

The Ice Plain True Lord’s heart sank.