Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 678 - 659: Black Crow Throne

The city was silent.

There was none of the chaos usually following the fall of a city—no looting, pillaging, or killing. Everything was calm; every cultivator stayed quietly in their place, daring not to move.

Jiang Ding walked and paused, arriving at the Triple Grade Superior Spiritual Vein within Tushan Immortal City.

The old Demon Palace of Tushan was nowhere to be seen.

Its construction was too cheap, built only with ordinary rocks, and its design was neither majestic nor splendid. It had been razed by the Hei Clan, who constructed a picturesque garden on the site.

Inside, a misty white fog pervaded as various rare elixirs and spirit trees flourished everywhere; cranes and spirit birds, as well as deer, appeared frequently. Occasionally, a spirit flower would bloom, sending a strange fragrance into the air.

Mountains and waters set the scene; every step revealed a different landscape, each one a different heaven and earth.

Walking among these, one felt relaxed and delighted for no apparent reason. It only felt as if the surrounding rocks, ponds, and forests were all in perfect harmony with nature, rising to the level of art.

Bathed in millenniums of wealth and prosperity, even a brief glimpse was astonishing.

Compared to this garden, Jiang Ding's former Demon Palace of Tushan barely deserved the grand title 'palace'; it should rather be called a shabby thatched cottage.

Perhaps that would confer it more of a hermit's detachment, sparing it from ridicule.

Jiang Ding took a careful look around and then withdrew from this common artistic aesthetic of humanity.

"Kind of disgusting."

He sighed.

It was not just a visual perception; he had also scanned the area meticulously with his Divine Sense.

Beneath the roots of the fragrant spirit flowers, the meticulously refined head of a human girl was buried, just sixteen years old, at the prime of her youth and possibly as delicate as a flower in appearance.

Under the spirit trees, piles of tender corpses from three or four-year-old children lay together, used as fertilizer. The fruits that grew were large and sweet, and if Foundation-building cultivators practicing the Yin-type methods consumed these fruits, it would enhance their cultivation base.

In the garden where the lightweight cranes and deer scurried around were actually Foundation-building cultivators who had practiced the Peeling Method. Their divine souls sealed, their minds clouded, they truly believed they were cranes or deer, continuously nibbling at spirit grass, drinking from spirit springs, fattening their bodies, and refining their souls.

The garden was more than just a landscape.

It was for use, for consumption, for preparing elixirs, for artifact refining, for making talismans... The Hei Clan's inheritance lasted for ten thousand years, with each piece of knowledge intact, every item of use.

"A power like the Hei Clan shouldn't exist in the world."

Clang!

Jiang Ding drew his sword.

All around, the formation method in the spiritual medicine garden that bound numerous resentful spirits and drew on their Yin energy and grudge to grow broke apart. The pitch-black Yin energy dispersed, and various ferocious spirits emerged, breaking their seals.

"Return my life..."

"Blood, I want blood, I want something alive..."

Suddenly, what was once an idyllic fairyland turned into a chilling ghostly horror, with various frenzied ghosts covering the sky, carrying terrible hatred, eager to devour all life in revenge.

"Rest in peace."

Jiang Ding said calmly.

The clear ring of the sword sounded again, carrying the rhythm of the Soul-calming Spell. Evil souls guilty of heinous crimes, as well as innocent wraiths, or those intent on revenge—all became transparent under the sound of the Soul-calming Spell and gradually vanished.

As for where they went, Jiang Ding did not know.

Whether they were completely obliterated or reincarnated was a mystery.

"Thank you, venerable ancestor, for saving my life!"

After the resentful spirits were the cranes and deer, who had their seals on their divine souls lifted and transformed back into human shapes. They were in fact Foundation-building cultivators, men and women, old and young, all with dazed expressions. It took quite a while for them to come to their senses, thanking the young man in green as they kowtowed.

"It's nothing, you are free now, go on your way."

Jiang Ding waved his hand: "Remember, the laws of my Immortal City cannot be violated. If there are any fellow daoists who are not aware, go find a copy to memorize. Besides that, anything goes."

"We will obey the venerable ancestor's command!"

The numerous Foundation-building cultivators did not dare to linger, bowed once more, and took their leave.

Jiang Ding reached out his hand, and as the cultivation formation was broken, the spirit flowers and spirit grass that had lost their sustaining power all flew towards him, getting absorbed into his Storage Jade Pendant.

These were mostly Yin Energy spiritual plants, ranging from second- to third-order items.

They were grown from the soil of human bones and souls, and Jiang Ding didn't deny this fact, but he would still use them without wasting any.

After all, demon cultivators deserved to die, but their leftover wealth should not be burned.

Such a moral compulsion was impractical.

Demon cultivators were cunning and brutal, with formidable strength. If the forces of righteousness—like himself—were to further handicap themselves by inefficient use of resources, they would fall behind in power, creating an obstacle for future righteous endeavors.

To do so would be foolish and a distortion of the Righteous Dao.

How could justice and strength be so inconveniently connected?

With the loss of these flowers and grasses, the surrounding gardens were no longer complete, with pits and holes resembling chewed edges, lacking the natural harmony and aesthetic beauty of heaven and earth.

"This is rather good."

Jiang Ding nodded in satisfaction, this matched his aesthetic.

Taking his time to wander through various places in Tushan Immortal City such as treasuries and caves, he scoured everything with Divine Sense Scanning and obtained wealth amounting to six to seven hundred million Low-grade Spirit Stones, mostly consisting of first- to third-order Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures, which he used to slightly replenish his purse.

After roaming around, Jiang Ding gained a general understanding of Tushan Immortal City and returned to the center of the Triple Grade Superior Spiritual Vein.

Jiang Ding's gaze lingered on the central hall.

It was a throne that rose to dozens of feet high, carved entirely from third-order Black Crystal Iron. Behind it was an engraved Golden Crowned Raven with wings spread wide as if soaring; its eyes were lifelike and profound, the craftsmanship was delicate to the pinnacle—as if the next moment, the Golden Crowned Raven would come to life and choose someone to devour.

"This one is not bad, I like it."

Jiang Ding walked over, sat on the Black Crow Throne, gently touched the sword handle, and said indifferently, "Keep this place as it is, change everything else according to the principles of high efficiency and simplicity as the main goal. Do not sacrifice practicality for the sake of beauty or vanity."

"Yes, Young Master."

A crisp and ethereal voice responded from beside him.

In a hazy moment, the figures of two women appeared.

One was around one meter fifty, with a petite stature and snow-white palace dress—at the Peak of Foundation Building—none other than Gong Caiyu.

The other was a woman with ordinary facial features, build, and aura, easily overlooked—she was the first servant girl of winter with a Mist Spirit Body, also at the Peak of Foundation Building, named Dong Xue.

The two of them, along with some members of the Tushan maiden group, had always been lurking in the Three Kingdoms, never leaving.

When Jiang Ding returned, they also reappeared.

"Your Concealment abilities are cultivated quite well."

Jiang Ding nodded and encouraged them, "Even a Golden Pill Monk would not be able to discover you without careful Divine Sense Scanning. You have a certain self-protective capability. Although these years have been difficult, you have not fallen behind in your cultivation, which is good."

"It is all thanks to your cultivation from years past, Young Master."

Gong Caiyu and Dong Xue showed proud expressions.

To receive praise from him was an honor recognized throughout the entire Northern Plains.

"How many maidens remain in the land of the Three Kingdoms?"

Jiang Ding inquired.

"There are eighty-seven formal maidens, the majority are at the latter stage of Foundation Building or higher, and fifty-four reserve maidens.

The reserve maidens haven't been granted the Heaven Light Dao Troops' Flying Swords; most are Foundation-building cultivators, our peripheral members developed, with limited knowledge of us and weaker combat capabilities."

Gong Caiyu replied crisply.

Compared to their peers in the Northern Plains, they stricly followed the order to lurk and wait, without expanding.

"Eighty-seven, enough to form two Golden Pill fighting squads... not bad."

Jiang Ding handed them each a Sword Talisman and said softly, "Go, sweep through Chu Country and Yue Country, eliminate the remnants of the Hei Clan there, annihilate all who obstruct the will of Tushan, and reestablish our dominion, just as it was years before, in the Tushan Immortal City."

"Yes!"

Gong Caiyu and the others responded loudly.