Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 686 - 667 Nascent Treasure Taiqing: The Sword of Nascent Soul Slaying

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Time flew by, and another three years passed.

At the Silver Sky Island dormitory, dark clouds loomed, lightning flashed, and thunder roared. The terrible Nascent Soul Tribulation's oppressive might enveloped a defense range of hundreds of miles, while creatures quivered in fear, their world darkened as sunlight was obscured.

Boom!

The first bolt of green-violet lightning fell, silently dissolving space, easily penetrating mana domains and shattering the shields of Nascent Soul Monks, pulverizing their spells into dust, leaving no trace.

Such Heavenly Might,

posed a tremendous crisis even to an Immortal of Nascent Soul, directly facing it meant complete obliteration, with both body and Nascent Soul annihilated.

"Nascent Treasure Tribulation..."

Jiang Ding watched from outside the lightning tribulation, silently gazing at the sky and the radiant sword below, as resplendent as the sun itself—a Bluegold Flying Sword.

She dispelled the dark clouds and, under the gloomy lightning tribulation, unfolded her spirit-breaking and law-destroying Sword Domain, impervious to the wind and storm, unshaken by the tribulation for even a fraction of an inch.

Yes, the Taiqing Flying Sword was enduring its Life Treasure Tribulation.

Once it passed through the lightning tribulation, a transformation in both spirit and material would occur, leaping from a treasure to Nascent Treasure, enormously increasing its might and offering its Sword Master a faster cultivation speed, a significant boost from a life treasure.

Influenced by Sword Qi Thunder Sound, in just three years, Jiang Ding had completed the remaining inscriptions of the Earth Evil Prohibition. There was no bottleneck as expected, achieving Earth Evil Perfection, reaching the pinnacle of a treasure, with no further advancement possible.

This was a limit.

Ninety-nine percent of treasures in this world reach their destiny like this, arriving at their endpoint.

Just like the several Cultivators at the Golden Pill Peak who reach the end of their lifetimes.

The material of the treasure, the prohibition inscriptions refined, the will of the refiner, the time spent on refining, the spirit of the treasure, the number of battles it has experienced or the amount of production activity, experiences, and what opportunities it has encountered... and so on. Many things can affect a treasure's future and destiny.

For most treasures, this is where the refining process comes to an end.

As an Earth Evil Perfection treasure, it was enough to be considered a family heirloom, giving its wielder a significant advantage in conflicts at the Golden Pill level, a display of a sect's foundation.

No one sought to refine it further, to push beyond this point, for that would be akin to seeking death, with no other possibility in sight.

Occasionally, one in ten thousand treasures, possessing exceptional spirit, would be treasured and preserved, gathering various treasures to assist in surviving tribulations, secret techniques, and meticulously preparing over multiple generations of cultivators, finally selecting an auspicious day to make the leap.

If successful, it would ascend to the heavens.

A Nascent Treasure possesses spirit, and would protect a place or people according to the refiner's will. Familial powers might transform overnight, a Golden Pill power could easily be obliterated, and one might become the dominant force of a region.

Of course, it could also attract the greed of an Immortal of Nascent Soul.

If failed, the efforts and opportunities of more than a dozen generations of cultivators would vanish into thin air.

Once Jiang Ding had confirmed the Taiqing Flying Sword was indeed at Earth Evil Perfection without any hidden flaws, she did not hesitate or search for any Life Treasure Tribulation opportunities. She simply threw the sword into the sky and began the Life Treasure Tribulation.

This is what was unfolding before her.

Boom!

The thunder tribulation that had brewed for months boomed down, shattering mana domains, dissolving space, with might that horrified Nascent Soul Monks.

Wooong!

The Taiqing Flying Sword, targeted by the tribulation's aura, lazily wiggled its Bluegold sword body as a response, a sign of respect for the tribulation.

Very respectful, not taking it lightly.

Crack!

The green-violet lightning met with no resistance, striking directly onto the foot-long Bluegold sword body, with the terrifying force of destruction fully impacting it.

Eeven a pile of treasures would be reduced to scraps under such a strike, melted into a metal liquid devoid of any spirit, with the hard work and effort of hundreds, thousands of years by countless generations wasted.

The brilliant lightning erupted, devouring vast stretches of space, destroying any Divine Sense explorations, obscuring all clarity.

Jiang Ding's Sea of Consciousness felt a brief sting.

The lightning faded.

Looking intently, a crimson-red flying sword stood in the sky. Its color was a deep red, with a dreadful heat, as the material of the sword body underwent some subtle, yet fundamental transformation.

"This is much stronger than the refining burn of the Sun Flame Crystal," Jiang Ding remarked.

One lightning strike equated to the effects of refining with the Sun Flame Crystal hundreds of times.

No wonder the "Great Sun Sword Sutra" lacked any special techniques for a flying sword to pass through a heavenly tribulation and advised against any preparation, even emphasizing to lower all defenses, to not even employ Sword Qi, and to bear the brunt of the lightning strikes to the fullest extent.

This wasn't just lightning,

but rather the grand opportunity that had awaited for more than a hundred years!

It was a chance unique to treasures with terrifyingly powerful materials, foundation, and spirit—a missed opportunity would never come again.

Hum!

The Taiqing Flying Sword vibrated slightly, conveying a sense of dissatisfaction.

'...weak…'

'...not enough… weak… not enough…'

It was striving to express such a sentiment.

"Weak? That's the spirit," said Jiang Ding, offering a word of praise.

Without further hesitation, she initiated the mana technique, activating the formation methods that she had inscribed in the vicinity well in advance.

Boom!

Within a defense range of dozens of miles, array patterns surged up, with the sound of crackling electricity, thunderclouds spread in all directions, creating a domain as if magnetic field lines materialized into solid form, with radiant blue array patterns rippling out in concentric circles.

Layer upon layer of magnetic patterns swirled around the Taiqing Flying Sword at the center, giving the appearance, from a distance, of a sovereign amidst the thunderstorm.

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Fourth-grade superior Ten Thousand Magnetic Thunder Cloud Formation!

It is the same as the formation on the body of the Great Sun Battleship, super warships, but its purpose is not protection. Instead, it underwent a specialized design change by the Xianmen Science Institute.

Its sole function is to enhance, to amplify the power of the Heavenly Tribulation!

Boom!

In the sky, beneath the tribulation clouds, a green-purple thunderbolt was about to strike down. With array patterns rising, immense energy from the thunderbolt continuously poured in. The brilliance of the green-purple thunderbolt suddenly surged, and the light of the thunder swelled and contracted violently, its aura increasing several folds.

The green-purple thunderbolt was twisting, writhing.

Then, it began to transform, vaguely taking the form of a thunder saber, peerlessly sharp, with a destructive Sword Intent soaring into the sky!

"Heavenly Tribulation taking form!"

Jiang Ding's face changed, feeling that he had gone too far.

According to the records of Xianmen Sect, the transformation of the Heavenly Tribulation into a form was a means engraved by the Heavenly Dao in the past, invoking historical figures' techniques, which are much more powerful than mere thunderbolts.

Many exceptional predecessors from Xianmen Sect, with illustrious war achievements, have perished under such tribulations, and even among the elites, barely one in a hundred survive.

After the Heavenly Tribulation took form, the pressure and sharpness it exuded made him feel an appalling threat. His hair stood on end, and his scalp tingled.

This Heavenly Tribulation could kill him!

"Should I...?"

Jiang Ding entertained a thought in his mind.

Swordsmanship, Sword Qi, Sword Intent—these three aspects could greatly increase the combat power of the Taiqing Flying Sword. Moreover, the scabbard was nearby, ready to be employed at any moment.

"...No..."

A delighted thought came from the Taiqing Flying Sword.

"...happy..."

"...this is... what is desired..."

"Is this what you want?"

Jiang Ding fell silent.

This flying sword was ultimately forged from the fundamental secret techniques of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion and inherently carried the Sword Pavilion's strong tendency for self-destruction, seeking to be born from death, to find a path to transcendence amidst destruction and demise.

"Then go."

Jiang Ding sighed.

He knew that this was a part of his own Divine Soul and will, harboring a certain tendency towards slaughter and destruction; the Taiqing Flying Sword merely materialized it. It wasn't an external demon but rather his own inner self stirring from the depths of his soul.

Clang!

Whoosh!

The Taiqing Flying Sword, carrying a joyous hum, without any protection and without any attack, went straight towards the thunder saber of the Heavenly Tribulation in the sky.

Boom!

The thunder roared, a black hole in space suddenly expanded, devouring everything, even the sunlight, plunging the sky and the land into an environment devoid of light.

Under the oppressive might of the Heavenly Tribulation, Jiang Ding could not perceive anything.

He only felt a piercing pain in his Divine Soul, as if being sliced by knives and chiseled by axes, his head felt like it was about to split open, and his distant senses weakened significantly, suffering severe injury.

The body of the sword was heavily damaged under the thunder saber of the Heavenly Tribulation. The sword was not indestructible, and its sentience suffered great harm.

But the joyous sound of the sword did not stop.

It grew louder and more exuberant, accelerating, always speeding up, charging towards the substantial thunder under the dark clouds, seeking out the most terrifying thunderbolts to temper its own being, to become more solid, more sharp.

Mad and bloody.

Regarding its own and the opponent's death as nothing

Boom!

Boom boom!

Amidst the dazzling thunder, Jiang Ding's face turned pale, his body swayed, and his head throbbed with pain. His Divine Soul was not about to split, it had already split, barely held together by thin strands, barely preventing it from collapsing into two halves and scattering apart.

The thunder continued to roar incessantly.

Never stopping, it obscured the passage of time and space, leaving him feeling groggy and disoriented.

Who knows how long it had been,

the tribulation clouds dispersed, the sunlight shone down, and the land was restored to light.

Jiang Ding opened his eyes, his vitality dropped off a cliff, his breath weak, even weaker than that of someone in the Foundation Building stage. He barely managed to steady his body and looked towards the culprit.

A Bluegold Flying Sword, hovering in front of him.

The originally smooth surface of the sword was now full of pits and indentations, melted by the terrible transformative Heavenly Tribulation, with the sword body even beginning to twist, not a single spot remained intact.

In the middle of the blade, there was an especially devastating cut, almost splitting the sword body into two, with only a small part still connected.

It had become a broken sword.

Shattered and pitted, if it were tossed on the roadway, no one would pick it up. Even if someone did find it by chance, they would treat it as scrap metal to be sold, not as something useful.

However, to the eyes of an Immortal of Nascent Soul, it would be a cause for terror.

The moment they saw this flying sword,

Their Divine Souls instinctively trembled, chilled, emanating from the deepest depths of their soul, from the core of their Nascent Soul, conveying the fear of facing a natural enemy, the most primal instinctual reaction.

Because,

This is a sword born to slay Nascent Souls!