Jiang Ding's Version of the Sword Refining Technique

Jiang Ding opened the new version of the sword refining technique.

The requirements remained unchanged: the top-tier version used Law-Breaking Immortal Gold and Supreme Clarity Divine Iron, while the budget version used Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood and Synthetic Geng Metal No. 21. The first-rank Spirit Gathering Formation engraved at its core was still the Great Sun Sword Pavilion's unique Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array. Nothing had changed.

Yet the contents had undergone some changes.

"Three levels: talisman swords, wooden swords, and iron swords..."

Jiang Ding's heart stirred. This borrowed the framework of the Seven Profound Sect's Divine Firmament Hundred Pace Flying Sword, but the contents were entirely different—far more refined and complex.

"Legend says that the heavenly treasures of a certain realm and that realm's artifact-refining methods can mutually enhance one another to some extent. Could the array spirit have derived this based on that principle?"

Looking more closely, he found it extremely complex, surpassing things like the Divine Firmament Hundred Pace Flying Sword and the Song Family Hundred Pace Flying Sword by dozens of times over.

Yet it carried a strange sense of familiarity. Many profound problems he had thought utterly impossible to understand became suddenly enlightened after he pondered them several times.

It was as if... this technique had naturally been created just for him!

Without even cultivating it, he had already reached the state of perfect harmony required by the technique. Every word and action of his naturally aligned with its highest realm, returning to simplicity.

"Amazing. This is like creating, in a short time, an immortal Dao child favored by heaven and earth in a particular field!"

The more Jiang Ding read, the more astonished he became. "If there were several techniques like this, then even a dull-witted person could, by drawing inferences from one instance, raise their academic grades to a genius's level, couldn't they?"

"Mm, there are hidden dangers too. If one relies on it too much, academic performance will explode upward for a time, then completely stagnate. They will lose all drive and instinct to explore the unknown, and must have a deeper derived technique."

"After all, once someone has already 'naturally aligned with the immortal Dao,' what need is there to work hard?"

Jiang Ding searched the library and, sure enough, found papers describing this phenomenon.

It mostly occurred among youths from great families. Whether they coveted the title of prodigy, were too lazy to work hard, were compelled by family needs, or for all sorts of other messy reasons, they ultimately remained forever trapped at some early-stage realm.

Academically, it was called—Enlightenment Poison.

Jiang Ding's heart chilled. He returned his gaze to the technique and read it carefully, striving to memorize every part of it and ponder it at all times.

Who knew how much time passed before he suddenly heard a crack.

Jiang Ding awoke as if from a dream, only to feel his internal force spontaneously circulate all over his body. Its speed had increased by far more than double, while the vortex within his dantian spun faster and became more stable, little by little tempering the quality of his internal force with greater efficiency.

While breathing, walking, sitting, or lying down, his internal force naturally flowed through his meridians without requiring the slightest conscious effort to direct it.

"Eagle's Takeoff Sword Art has reached the Mastered Level!"

Jiang Ding was exhilarated. Carefully sensing the changes to the internal force within him, he said, "The efficiency of generating internal qi has increased, and so has the efficiency of nourishing and tempering my meridians. Now I can temper more than forty minor branch meridians a day—twice as many as before."

"Not only that, the quality of my internal force is also improving little by little. The efficiency will become even greater later on."

"At most twelve days, and I'll reach the Minor Heavenly Cycle realm."

He cultivated while comprehending the technique, only reluctantly leaving the library after eleven at night.

In the small courtyard, sunlight nearing noon spilled beneath the tree shade.

At a square table, a blue-robed, sword-bearing youth held a talisman brush and continuously wrote and drew across sheets of paper. Before long, a large circle of dense, twisted patterns and characters had spread out before him.

Internal force poured into them. A wisp of spiritual light flashed and vanished, and the talisman paper actually floated slightly in the air.

"The first-rank Floating Array is finally complete."

Jiang Ding felt sixty percent of the internal force in his body vanish at once, then steadily recover beneath the vortex of his Mastered Level technique realm. His heart filled with joy.

"Next come the Great Sun Sword Pavilion's unique first-rank Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array and first-rank Flying Array. Add in the special Sharp Gold Formation I've already mastered, and merge and fold all four formations into one—that will make the talisman sword from the Great Sun Seed Sword Refining Technique!"

Jiang Ding pondered.

Those two formations were naturally much more difficult than the Sharp Gold Formation and Floating Array, but with his comprehension of the sword refining technique, he was confident he could inscribe them one by one.

"A talisman sword has the power of a flying bird's impact. If I replace the paper with first-rank top-tier Gold Attribute talisman paper, its sharpness and speed will improve further. It will be usable."

Knock, knock, knock!

Jiang Ding revealed a puzzled expression.

"Come in."

The door opened, but it was not Huang Deyou's short and stout figure. An ordinary-looking youth walked in uneasily, keeping his head lowered and not daring to look at anyone.

"Boss, I have a favor to ask of you." Han Lin gritted his teeth.

Even he felt it was difficult to say. Someone had taken you in and even allowed you to practice martial arts, yet you still pushed your luck. It was truly shameless!

"Go ahead."

Jiang Ding glanced at the time. Good—it was past twelve, not working hours.

He held deep sympathy for these grassroots commoners who had suffered persecution. If he could help with something easily, he certainly would.

"Boss, I obtained an internal cultivation technique, but no matter what I do, I can't get started. Please give me some guidance..." Han Lin's face reddened further, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz as he did not dare meet anyone's eyes.

"Let me see."

Jiang Ding neither agreed nor refused, casually taking the book the other handed over.

Azure Origin Art.

He spent more than ten minutes flipping through it from beginning to end, and then he had a clear understanding.

The cultivation method itself was not difficult. There were some unfamiliar specialized terms, but with the context, they were easy enough to understand.

This was a special cultivation method leaning toward the wood attribute. It had some healing effects, and its principles were upright and balanced, making Qi Deviation less likely. It involved one thousand and eighty meridians.

This already counted as a top-tier internal energy cultivation method in the Yue Kingdom.

This fellow was truly lucky.

Jiang Ding glanced at the honest-looking youth before him.

"There are two ways for internal energy to come into being."

Jiang Ding said slowly, "The first is to temper the human body, refine the tendons, bones, skin, and flesh. Once one reaches the limit, essence overflows naturally and transforms into inner qi, giving rise to internal energy. This method is superior, and the internal energy it produces is more compatible with oneself."

This method was the mainstream in the Immortal Sect.

"The other is to follow the visualization diagram provided by the cultivation method and visualize an invisible 'qi' existing within one's body. This is the Qi Sensing Realm. By visualizing it for a long time and deepening one's understanding day by day, one can eventually turn the false into the true, allowing internal energy to truly arise from one's qi and blood."

"Azure Origin Art follows the latter path. At the end of the cultivation method is an Azure Cloud True Immortal Enlightenment Diagram. This, too, is a viable path. Compared to the former, it carries certain risks, but it may not necessarily be inferior..."

Jiang Ding did not ask what he failed to understand. Instead, he explained everything from beginning to end, point by point.

What astonished him was that Han Lin possessed the ability to remember everything at a glance. After hearing it once, he remembered it all, then asked Jiang Ding in turn about certain crucial points he had not understood.

Jiang Ding explained carefully, but a cultivation method structure surfaced in his mind.

Spirit Root to Qi Conversion Structure!

It had also existed in Desolate Wolf Strength, the internal energy cultivation method he had obtained from Long Shi. One was earth-attributed, the other wood-attributed, but both used the spiritual qi naturally absorbed by spirit roots and converted it into internal energy.

The two cultivation methods differed in grade, yet this point was exactly the same.

Those with Four Spirit Roots would cultivate ten or twenty percent faster; those with Three Spirit Roots would be forty or fifty percent faster; those with Two Spirit Roots would be twice as fast!

If all internal energy cultivation methods possessed this structure, then the better one's spirit roots, the faster one would cultivate.

"Could this... have been deliberately released by some Cultivation Sect to use in selecting disciples?"

Jiang Ding guessed.

A chill rose in his heart. From now on, he needed to act even more cautiously and not casually expose objects from the Immortal Sect.