Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

The touch was warm and smooth like jade, as if caressing one of his own fingers.

Jiang Ding could clearly feel a close connection with the Talisman Sword, similar to that of Essence Blood but much weaker. The only good news was that this connection was no longer diminishing.

On the contrary, when he injected Inner Energy, the Great Sun Gathering Spirit Formation was activated, drawing minute amounts of Spiritual Energy from the air on its own. Plus the nurturing with Inner Energy, this connection was strengthening, no longer rootless.

Although the change was extremely subtle, almost imperceptible.

At this pace, a mortal could not nurture it to battle readiness in their lifetime—it was just a plaything.

Therefore, some inventive warriors developed two methods to accelerate growth.

Nurturing and tempering the sword body with decades or even centuries-old medicines would slightly speed up the process. What once took sixty years might now only need forty years of uninterrupted nurturing and tempering to be ready for combat.

Keep in mind, a typical warrior who cultivated to Internal Qi Perfection, thus qualified to craft the Hundred Step Flying Sword, was already in their thirties at least. Even if there was an ample supply of old medicines and no accidents along the way, they would be nearing seventy or eighty by the time it was done.

One foot already in the coffin.

Forty years of relentless nurturing and tempering, with a mountain's worth of old medicine consumed—for this?

Not to mention, the Jianghu is fraught with dangers. Who could avoid mishaps for forty years?

Did they think they were the chosen ones?

The most effective method was, of course, Blood Refinement from time to time!

The speed could be greatly accelerated. Those with exceptional talents might be combat-ready in a decade, though it was easy to weaken the body and shorten the lifespan, and it meant giving up the hope of attaining Xiantian.

So you see, this is the very definition of "useless."

"You are different, you are not..."

Jiang Ding gently stroked the body of the sword, murmuring.

Not to mention the potential to build an unparalleled foundation in the future, comparable to great sect disciples, even now it was not bad.

The material of this Hundred Step Flying Sword was excellent, reaching the pinnacle of First-order, and the Formation Method was the crystallization of countless years of effort from the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, one of the former Nine Great Immortal Sects.

Even if he halted the Blood Refinement, once the sword had adapt to the spiritual nature of the materials, it would grow quickly to a certain extent, then slow to a snail's pace again.

"Sword, rise."

With a thought from Jiang Ding, the Talisman Sword in his palm shakily took flight, reaching the position he had pre-set.

"Go."

He then pointed to a spot about seven or eight meters away.

The Talisman Sword moved to that point at a slightly slower speed than a paper airplane and returned at the same pace.

Jiang Ding observed carefully. Even now, strands of Essence Blood had yet to completely integrate into the Array Patterns, existing in parallel, thus resulting in a certain delay in control.

Because of the particular nature of Essence Blood, it must not be exposed to the air, so it had to be constantly enveloped with Inner Energy without leaving a trace of air; otherwise, it would harm the Essence Blood that had separated from the body.

Jiang Ding tried slightly, opening a membrane of Inner Energy above one of the Array Patterns on the Talisman Sword, creating a pinhole-sized gap to let the Array Pattern touch the air.

Hiss~

His face paled instantly as if pricked by a needle, and he quickly halted his foolhardy action.

"Damn, I see now why many legends say dirty things like black dog blood or Heavenly Mallotus Blood can taint a Flying Sword—there's actual science behind it."

"Perhaps even a slight collision could cause the same."

Jiang Ding was shaken.

Of course, this was due to the Array Pattern and Essence Blood in the Talisman Sword not yet being fully integrated, resulting in a fragile state. Once fully merged, it wouldn't be like this.

It would only affect the speed somewhat.

However, in the "Great Sun Sword Cultivation Method (Jiang Ding Version)", a secret technique called Great Sun Blaze is included, which can cause the Great Sun essence stored daily in the Great Sun Gathering Spirit Formation to burst forth in a special way, forming a layer of Great Sun Blaze on the sword body.

The black dog blood and Heavenly Mallotus blood won't even come close to touching me before being burnt to ashes.

Ding-a-ling ding-a-ling!

The end-of-class bell rang, and Jiang Ding struggled to stand up, took the Purple Jade Life Essence Pill from the palm of the central banyan tree in the Cultivation Room, and swallowed it before walking out of the Cultivation Room with somewhat unsteady steps.

Feeling a warmth spreading from his stomach to his limbs and bones, the fully matured "Eagle Taking Off Sword Technique" started to circulate automatically, warming and refining the twelve main meridians and their smaller branches.

Jiang Ding's heart sank.

The efficiency of refinement and nurturing plummeted dramatically, and where his original talent, cultivation method stage, Micro Circle of Vital Energy, and Small Circle of Vital Energy could boost him to warm and refine eighty meridians a day, now it was more than a hundred times slower than before!

Probably it would take three days just to warm and refine one small meridian.

"No, the extremely low possibility of a terrible event didn't happen."

Jiang Ding muttered to himself, repeatedly using Inner view to inspect his body, and found that most of the essence energy generated by the elixir had been forcibly absorbed by his heart, leaving hardly any for the various meridians, as if there was an essence energy black hole.

"This is good, the heart is compensating for the lack of Essence Blood, generating a new drop of it."

He felt a sense of relief mixed with trepidation, recognizing the severity of the consequences from losing just one drop of Essence Blood. He dared not imagine what would have happened had he lost a few more drops.

Staggering with each step, he made his way back to the classroom.

Many classmates turned their heads to look at him, with several observing his condition closely, nearly about to call an ambulance before he hurriedly stopped them.

"Damn! Were you drained by a succubus?"

Li Junhao was startled; could the ashen-faced, pallid, and unsteady person in front of him really be the same Jiang Ding from two hours ago?

Many classmates also looked over.

"Really!"

"Has Jiang Ding encountered a ghost or something? That shouldn't be possible, right? There's no such thing in the school."

Hua Bing, Wu Tianli, and others who were preparing to lead the after-school slogan also came over, and with a scan of their Divine Sense, they understood immediately, but also felt a bit puzzled.

"Lacking in vital energy and blood?"

Wu Tianli pondered for a moment, then took out a bottle of elixir: "This is a first-order high-grade True Yang Elixir, it can greatly replenish depleted vital energy and cleanse yin energy. Try taking it."

Jiang Ding was touched.

To be honest, he felt some animosity towards Wu Tianli.

Tall and handsome, with great strength, nearly all the girls in the class liked him, and sometimes Jiang Ding even fantasized about one day being so powerful that he could knock Wu Tianli down and laugh triumphantly.

"Thank you, but there's no need, I'm fine. A few days of rest and I'll be back to normal."

Jiang Ding politely refused.

He could tell at a glance that this first-order high-grade True Yang Elixir was very valuable, and while Wu Tianli's father was a tycoon in Rong City, he only dealt in mortal coin businesses.

Compared to an average family, he was certainly much stronger, but even he would have difficulty supporting a cultivator in the middle-stage of Qi practicing.

Receiving such a favor out of the blue did not sit well with him.

"That's good, make sure you rest."

Wu Tianli, of course, wouldn't continue to persuade after this and nodded his head, putting the elixir back.

Hua Bing, who was also about to take out an elixir, stopped upon seeing this. After confirming again that Jiang Ding was not seriously ill, he began to lead the after-school slogan.

"First, point the gun…"

After declining Li Junhao's offer to take him back, Jiang Ding decided to go to the Cultivation Room and get a clean bill of health, the kind that parents could check online.

Otherwise, Lin Wanqiu would directly send him to the hospital, the kind of situation where he wouldn't think about getting out for at least a week!