Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 1021 - 990: Hundred Years of Development in the Northern Plains

On the Six Dao Throne, a green-clothed youth who had stood like a statue for innumerable years opened his eyes.

"One hundred years..."

Jiang Ding sighed.

A fleeting look of vicissitudes flashed across his eyes, which soon reverted to the clarity and curiosity characteristic of youth.

During these hundred years, which he had set as a period of self-imposed isolation after learning about the Perishing Immortal Realm, he would not return to the Northern Plains except upon foreseeing the destruction of the Tushan Central Court.

Jiang Ding's Divine Sense swept across all directions, beginning to receive various reports from the Tushan Central Court.

More than eighty years ago, with the success of the Implements Sect's refining of the quasi-Spiritual Treasure 'Ten Thousand Miles Beacon Tower', the Tushan Central Court finally evolved to paperless operation, greatly improving the efficiency of information transmission, and with it, the level of Artifact Refining in the Tushan Central Court rose by a notch, taking their Artifact Refining legacy a step further.

Now, compared to a hundred years ago, cultivators ranging from Qi Practitioners to Nascent Soul Monks each had more abundant resources, brandishing several Magic Tools and Treasures, as well as various Talismans, once again expanding the power gap with cultivators of the Demon Race of corresponding ranks.

In the last hundred years, thirty-one new Nascent Soul Monks emerged in the Northern Plains, half from Golden Pill Peak cultivators who seized opportunities in the previous great war, and the other half from the direct disciples and kin of Nascent Soul Monks.

Eleven of these were Great Sun Sword Sect cultivators who broke through from the Golden Pill Peak.

The number of Great Sun Sword Sect cultivators might not even constitute one percent of the whole in the Northern Plains, yet they account for a third of those who advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage; an absolutely terrifying statistic.

This was likely related to the last successful attack on the Northern Capital of the Western Desert Demon Race Dynasty by the Great Sun Longsword Metropolis.

Sword Cultivators, known for their bravery and relentless progression, with more dying, the probability of prodigies emerging, and the qualitative transformation of Divine Soul and Sword Intent accordingly increased.

This is why it is so frightening.

Of course, it requires the Sword Cultivators themselves to possess strong ambitions and a martial mindset, rather than being coerced into a battle to die without purpose.

Such forcibly promoted Sword Cultivators, even if they perish completely, are unlikely to make any breakthroughs.

Additionally, the presence of such figures as the Dari Swordsman cannot be understated in promoting the growth of Sword Cultivators, serving as a vital factor.

All these factors combined meant that many in the Northern Plains used to avoid joining the Great Sun Sword Sect and Great Sun Longsword Metropolis, appalled by a casualty rate close to fifty percent in a single battle, a fact that was enough to change their complexions with fear, and thus they dared not let their talented young kin join the Great Sun Sword Sect.

Now, however, many cultivators flock to them, eager to become Great Sun Sword Sect Sword Cultivators, becoming the primary choice for the countless Elite Geniuses of the Northern Plains, ranking alongside the Tu Shan Maiden Corps.

Currently, the choice youths of the Northern Plains who have a trace of pride often try to join these two military arms first before considering others.

The Northern Plains now boast one hundred and twenty-six Immortals of Nascent Soul and countless Golden Core Foundation Building cultivators, with a robust military force.

Among them, the Southeast Wind Female Servant and other Nine Great Maids have crossed into the Mid-stage of Nascent Soul, and the Elite Geniuses among the Nascent Souls such as Ice Snow Immortal Mu Tiansnow, Da'ai Immortal, Immortal Yin Dao, and Scorching Sun Immortal have also broken through into the Mid-stage of Nascent Soul, each seeing substantial gains in their strength.

As for Immortal Qing Yun Han Lin, he remains at the Early Stage of Nascent Soul.

In any case, that is how others see him, and it's how he himself has reported it, always appearing as if he is a Loose Cultivator with no future ahead, seeking no prominent position or great responsibilities, spending his days in Alchemy and Cultivation, showing kindness to others, and desiring nothing from this world.

Tianyang Immortal remains at the Nascent Soul Peak, unable to break through; he traded his battle merits for a lower-grade God Transformation Tribulation Secret Art and has since been deeply comprehending it, seldom venturing out.

A hundred years have passed, and the cultivators who earned battle merits back then have successfully exchanged them, with no one left in arrears, and no cultivator's compensation delayed; under Jiang Ding's daily scrutiny, the Tushan Central Court executed the distribution and exchange of battle merits with the utmost efficiency.

He fulfilled his promise, not breaching the commitments he had personally made all those years ago, benefiting over a million cultivators.

The terrifyingly high administrative efficiency greatly shocked the Northern Plains cultivators; they had never experienced such an organization where achievements instantly translated into rewards. There were no deductions, no need for flattery, no skimming off the top—only that upon achieving battle merits, extremely generous rewards would immediately be issued without any discount.

After this incident, the prestige of Tushan Central Court in the Northern Plains soared to its peak, earning the trust of almost all cultivators.

As they recuperated for a hundred years, the cultivators who were originally more inclined towards peaceful cultivation began to change.

Many Immortals and Immortal Jin Dans started yearning for war, hoping to acquire opportunities within it to break through their own realm, and their desire to petition for battle became increasingly strong.

Jiang Ding glanced at the pile of Jade Slips sent by the petitioning Immortals of Nascent Soul.

It was business as usual for the Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators like the Scorching Sun Immortal from the Great Sun Sword Sect and others.

It was the norm, a hundred years ago it had been like this; every day, they patrolled the borders of the Northern Plains and the West Desert, looking for Demon Monarchs to fight. It was a never-ending cycle, with Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators being ambushed and killed or slain by higher-realm Demon Monarchs from the Demon Race, after which new Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators would emerge within the Sword Sect.

A cycle of rebirth.

To court death was their normality.

It could be said that without a heart set on courting death, it would generally be impossible for a Sword Cultivator to comprehend Sword Intent and advance to Nascent Soul.

Many Gold Core Sword Cultivators within the Great Sun Sword Sect, for instance, might even progress faster in strength than the Xianmen Sect's sword cultivators of the same stage—other than their predisposition to an early death, they had virtually no shortcomings.

Such was the normality for these Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators.

But in recent years, many Magic Cultivators like Tianyang Immortal, Ice Snow Immortal, Immortal Yin Dao, and others also began to yearn for war, which was somewhat unusual.

"Everyone seems to wish to gain more from the war, to come closer to the Transformation into Divinity..." Jiang Ding pondered briefly and understood their thoughts.

However,

He decided to refuse and issued the command to continue waiting.

If the Ice Field Heavenly Monarch and the others didn't initiate an attack, Jiang Ding also would not take the offensive.

Time was on humanity's side; a mere hundred years was not enough to lose patience.

Jiang Ding had once commissioned a chart that compared the advancement timing of the Northern Plains Human Race and the Western Desert Demon Race, discovering that if one purely considered the combat power at the Nascent Soul Stage, the optimal time for a decisive battle was five hundred years later.

In five hundred years, the Human Race of the Northern Plains would widen the gap with the Western Desert Demon Race to its largest extent.

Too early, and the strength and numbers of human Nascent Souls wouldn't have reached their prime; too late, and the Demon Race cultivators would enter their golden period of development, gradually closing the gap with humans.

Due to limited resources, the power of human Nascent Soul Monks had already peaked and would not grow further with time.

Of course, Jiang Ding would not wait that long, as the power of the Nascent Soul Stage was not enough to decide the outcome of war.

"Nascent Soul Late-Stage."

Jiang Ding whispered, "I will not send troops until I reach the Nascent Soul Late-Stage. Even if the Western Desert Demon Race invades again and multiple Divinity Transformation Cultivators besiege us, I will not send troops. I will honestly retreat into the Six Dao Leaving Sun Great Formation and wait to break through the realm."

"After breaking through to the Nascent Soul Late-Stage, I will then slaughter the Ice Field Heavenly Monarch and pacify this world."