"Congratulations, Great Sun Heavenly Lord, on advancing your cultivation!"
As soon as the young man in azure arrived, the Immortal Sect Heavenly Lords gathered around him offered their congratulations in unison.
"Haha, seniors, fellow Daoists, you're too kind."
Jiang Ding smiled. "I've made a little progress, that's all. I'm still far from being able to influence the Immortal Sect's main battlefield. There's no need to make such a fuss."
"Look at you, playing the humble one with me."
"Don't think I haven't noticed your tail sticking up for ages..."
The Heavenly Lords around him laughed and swore at him.
They chatted for a while, praising one another and shooting the breeze, then turned to discussing the Dao. Before long, they had fallen into their usual talk of research.
Their main focus was developing the Void Refining methods of the Nine Immortal Sect Scriptures, along with armies' joint formations and offensive spells for the Dao Integration realm.
Besides these collective Immortal Sect projects, they each had projects of their own, such as Jiang Ding's Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Art and Five-Elements Metal Causality Sword Escape Art. The other Heavenly Lords had their own research projects too, each crucial to their Dao Path.
Everyone pooled their ideas and efforts. If a project needed specialists or technical support, a shout across the Immortal Sect would bring someone to help. There was no fear of being unable to find the right people.
Of course, they had to be paid.
The rates were favorable, but no one could expect others to work for free all the time.
That was why the Immortal Sect's many Heavenly Lords eagerly joined one another's projects. They accumulated wealth, library credits, and a deeper understanding of the immortal Dao along the way. When their own time came, they could likewise