Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 520 - 505: Sandstorms

Jiang Ding waved his hand, and amidst the settling white ash, specks of blood light converged, forming a Hua Xue Magical Blade with dim spiritual light.

Generally, when the owner dies, the Life Treasure also suffers great damage, and its spiritual light completely dims.

Even if one painstakingly attempts to refine it again, it can only be used at a reduced level, and it will never improve throughout its existence.

But this Hua Xue Magical Blade is somewhat stronger.

"Blood Spirit Holy Body... Divine Abilities Nine Lives."

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

Recalling the memories of the Blood Spirit Holy Body in Mu Tiansnow's Sea of Consciousness and comparing them with ancient tomes from the Xianmen Library: "This body and Divine Soul are dead beyond resurrection, unable to condense again within five hundred years."

"That means she still has eight lives scattered somewhere."

"If necessary, I can use this Life Blood Knife as a guide, scour an entire realm, and find the other eight Mu Tiansnows one by one to kill... We'll see when I have time."

The Hua Xue Magical Blade trembled, its blade coiling, shrinking from the size of a palm to the size of a thumb, trying to become even smaller.

"Quite spirited."

Jiang Ding picked up the thumb-sized Blood Knife and placed it inside a Jade Box, applying multiple layers of seals.

The rage has mostly subsided by now.

Mu Tiansnow had best not run into him again, or he'd manufacture a large batch of drones, each carrying a treasure with a tracking aura, and scour the entire Northern Plains. It would take at most several decades, a hundred years tops, to ensure that every needle is found.

Everything is settled.

Jiang Ding looked around at the surrounding mountains, rivers, and forests, suddenly feeling hesitant and indecisive.

"Let's go to the Northern Plains."

"Each year I need at least thirty million Low-grade Spirit Stones and a large quantity of priority materials like Gold Copper Stone; random acts of kindness aren't enough to fill the gap.

The loan from Xianmen provides only a temporary solution, and it must be repaid—besides, Xianmen is poor... I must have a stable dominion."

"Time to kill Divine Crow Immortal!"

"Then I can bring long-lasting peace and stability to the entire Three Kingdoms."

After a long time, he made up his mind.

The Azure Escape Light flashed, disappearing over ten kilometers away, and with another flash, he vanished completely.

More than ten days later,

Jiang Ding arrived at the border between the Tu Kingdom's forest and the Spiritless Gobi, taking one last look at the land where he had lived for more than a hundred years.

Actually, there wasn't much to miss.

The acquaintances he knew—Huang Deyou of Dongling City, Duke Town Dover Tang Wang, and others had died many years ago, while the few remaining people like Gong Caiyu, Han Lin, Li Qingyun, were compelled by circumstances to flee to the Northern Plains Immortal Cultivation World.

Among billions of living beings on this land, there were no old friends left.

"I'll come back."

Jiang Ding, without any reluctance, plunged into the vast expanse of the Soulless Gobi.

...

Sand piled up everywhere, while the relentless wind blew ceaselessly.

Jiang Ding concealed his presence, silently flying in the sky. Occasionally, the Azure Escape Light flickered, crossing whirlwinds of sandstorms to appear ten kilometers away.

These sandstorms were omnipresent, appearing abruptly and disappearing just as quickly, each occurrence posing a great threat to Golden Pill Monks.

Even more terrifying was the absence of any Spiritual Energy. The use of any Magic would consume a large amount of Mana, which couldn't be replenished from the environment, but only restored by absorbing Spirit Stones, almost halving the power of Magic.

If one encountered too many storms, it wouldn't be unusual for Golden Pill Monks to die.

At this moment, half a month had passed.

Jiang Ding had penetrated deep into the Spiritless Gobi—no, it should now be called the Soulless Desert—for ninety thousand kilometers, a very remote distance. Yet as far as the eye could see, there was still the endless yellow sand, no change in sight, seemingly stretching on forever.

"It will probably take about two years to reach the Northern Plains, but I can't spend all my time traveling. Cultivation, refining the Flying Sword, teaching classes—I can't neglect any of them... so, about six years in total," Jiang Ding calculated in his heart.

Generally, a Golden Pill Monk could traverse the Soulless Desert in approximately fifteen years if traveling at full speed, which was similar to the pace of the Flying Boats from the Lingbao Commerce Association.

His pace was much faster, but fearing an ambush, he intentionally avoided the main route. As a result, his journey was much longer, and he encountered more storms and dangers.

Of course, these dangers were only directed at Golden Pill Monks. For him, it merely meant wasting a year or two.

"Half a month, the time is up."

Within the Sea of Divine Consciousness of Jiang Ding, an alarm went off.

He walked for only fifteen days at a time.

His figure vanished without a trace.

...

The silvery mountain peak fluctuated above the ground.

It moved unpredictably within a certain range, and atop it, the Sun God Wood shone brightly, its thick branches and leaves absorbing the Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi and Great Sun Essence within dozens of kilometers, causing turbulent storms of Spiritual Energy.

After three months, it gradually ceased.

"My mana has improved somewhat."

Jiang Ding performed Inner Vision Dantian.

Within the lake of his Dantian, the accumulation of mana had edged even closer to one-third of the total capacity.

"Due to the influence of rushing on the road, the rate of mana accumulation has been a bit slower. Breaking through to the Middle Jindan Stage will now take a few more years... It's not a problem."

"For the next two months, I will be refining the Flying Sword."

Jiang Ding disengaged his Divine Sense from the Dantian, and his gaze shifted toward the piles of pure iron ingots and pure aluminum ingots laid out on the ground like a little mountain, each weighing more than forty tons.

"Today is No. 21 Synthetic Geng Metal paired with cereal, to replenish trace elements."

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

He took out the partly depleted Sun Flame Crystals and Moon Creek Crystals, spit out a jet of blazing Azure Elixir Fire, which embraced the flames of the Sun Flame Crystals, causing the temperature to skyrocket as the intense fire teeming with Sword Intent spread.

The Sun God Wood that pierced the sky crumbled, and amongst the scattered Spiritual Light, an Azure Flying Sword materialized, falling onto the flames and gradually turning red.

By dropping the protective barrier around the sword and willingly cooperating, after more than ten days under the smelting fire from both the identically originated Elixir Fire and Sun Flame Crystal, the Taiqing Flying Sword turned a deep red throughout, entering a critical state.

At a short distance, the tens of tons of iron and aluminum ingots flew over, refined ceaselessly amidst the sizzling sounds, and the essence extracted beyond the limits of ordinary materials left only a drop the size of a soybean after tons were refined.

"Swiftly!"

Jiang Ding manipulated the Mana Technique, guiding the essence of iron and aluminum, mixing them with the aura of No. 21 Synthetic Geng Metal, using all three as ink, his Divine Sense and mana as the brush, silently contemplating the intricacies of the Great Sun Heavenly Pond Sword Refining Method while imprinting delicate Sun God Prohibitions on the sword body of the Taiqing Flying Sword, connecting and spreading them with the existing pattern of prohibitions.

The essence of iron, the essence of aluminum, and the Gengjin Qi spread with the tip of the brush, further tempering the sword body, reinforcing its toughness and sharpness.

Two months later, the final stroke was made.

Hum!

Lines of Sun God Prohibition were activated, flickering with dense, burning patterns. The light converged to the center, undergoing complex and rapid changes.

Shortly after, an Earth Evil Prohibition was formed.

"The twelfth Earth Evil Prohibition is complete."

Jiang Ding gently caressed the reddened sword body, and the contact with mana and high temperature produced a sizzling sound.

Hum!

Inside the sword body, the twelve Earth Evil Prohibitions resonated, vibrating in unison. They glimmered, interconnecting, and mana flowed unobstructed among them, forming a unified whole.

After some time, the fluctuations subsided, and the sword's aura ascended another level.

"In terms of prohibitions, it's a mid-grade treasure now, one step closer to a Nascent Treasure," Jiang Ding joyfully declared.

After admiring for a moment, with a thought from his Divine Sense, an opening in the Moon Creek Crystal allowed a flow of cold mist imbued with Taiyin Sword Intent to enter the reddened Taiqing Flying Sword.

During the sizzling, the sword body was tempered, its hidden damages were mended, and the twelfth Great Sun God Prohibition was thoroughly stabilized.