Jiang Ding's Version of the Sword-Tempering Art

Jiang Ding opened the new version of the sword-tempering art.

The requirements had not changed. The premium version used Law-Breaking Immortal Gold and Grand Pure Divine Iron, while the budget version used Millennium Soul-Nourishing Wood and No. 21 Synthetic Geng Metal. The core first-rank spirit-gathering formation remained the Great Sun Sword Pavilion's unique Great Sun Spirit-Gathering Array. Nothing had changed.

Yet its contents had undergone some changes.

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

Jiang Ding's heart stirred. This borrowed the approach of the Seven Profound Sect's Divine Firmament Hundred-Step Flying Sword, but its contents were completely different—far more refined and complex.

"Legend says that a world's natural treasures and its artifact-refining methods can promote one another to a certain degree. Did the formation spirit derive this based on that?"

Looking more closely, he found it incomparably intricate, dozens of times more complex than works like the Divine Firmament Hundred-Step Flying Sword and the Song Clan Hundred-Step Flying Sword.

Yet it gave him a strange sense of familiarity. Many profound problems he had thought impossible to understand suddenly became clear after pondering them a few times.

It was as though... this technique had been born specifically for him!

Without even cultivating it, he had reached the great harmony required by the technique. Every word and action naturally accorded with its highest realm, returning to simplicity.

"Amazing. This creates, in a short time, an immortal cultivation prodigy 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 foolish person could, by drawing inferences from one instance to another, reach a genius's level in academic subjects, right?"

"Hmm, there are hidden dangers too. If one relies on it too much, academic performance will surge explosively for a time, then completely stagnate. They will lose all motivation and instinct to explore the unknown, and will need an even deeper derived technique."

"After all, once someone has already 'naturally aligned with the immortal path,' why would they still need to work hard?"

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

It mostly appeared among youths from great clans. Whether they craved the title of genius, were too lazy to work hard, or were driven by the needs of their families and various other messy reasons, they ultimately remained forever stuck at some early-stage realm.

Academia called it—Enlightenment Poison.

Jiang Ding's heart tightened. He turned his attention back to the technique and read it carefully, striving to memorize all of it and ponder it at all times.

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

Jiang Ding snapped out of his daze. He felt his internal force circulating through his entire body of its own accord, at more than twice its former speed. The vortex in his dantian had become faster and more stable, steadily tempering the quality of his internal force with greater efficiency.

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

"The Fledgling Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art has reached major mastery!"

Jiang Ding was thrilled. Carefully sensing the changes in his internal force, he said, "The efficiency of generating inner qi has improved, and so has the efficiency of nourishing and tempering my meridians. I can now temper more than forty minor branch meridians a day—double what I could before."

"Not only that, the quality of my internal force is gradually improving. Its efficiency will be even higher in the future."

"At most, I'll reach the 'Lesser Circulation' realm in twelve days."

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

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

At a square table, a blue-clad, sword-bearing youth held a talisman brush and continuously wrote and drew upon paper. Before long, a wide spread of densely packed, twisted diagrams and symbols covered the surface.

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

"The first-rank levitation formation is finally complete."

Jiang Ding felt sixty percent of his internal force drain away, then continuously recover beneath the vortex empowered by his major mastery in the technique. He was delighted.

"Next comes the Great Sun Sword Pavilion's unique first-rank Great Sun Spirit-Gathering Array, then a first-rank flight formation. Add the special Sharp Metal Formation I have already mastered, combine and fold the four formations into one, and that will form the talisman sword from the Great Sun Seed-Sword Tempering Art!"

Jiang Ding pondered.

Those two formations were naturally much harder than the Sharp Metal Formation and the levitation formation, but with his growing understanding of the sword-tempering art, he was confident he could inscribe them one by one.

"A talisman sword is about as powerful as a bird striking its target. If I replace the paper with first-rank, top-grade metal-attributed talisman paper, its sharpness and speed will improve further. It will be usable."

Knock, knock, knock!

Jiang Ding revealed a surprised expression.

"Come in."

The door opened, but it was not Huang Deyou's short, plump figure. Instead, an ordinary-looking youth entered uneasily, lowering his head and not daring to look at anyone.

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

Even he found it difficult to say. Someone had taken you in and allowed you to practice martial arts, yet you still had the nerve to push your luck. It was truly shameless!

"Go ahead."

Jiang Ding checked the time. Good, it was past noon—not working hours.

He had deep sympathy for common people at the bottom of society 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 was as soft as a mosquito's, and he did not dare meet anyone's eyes.

"Let me see it."

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

Azure Origin Art.

After spending more than ten minutes reading through it from beginning to end, he understood the situation.

The technique was not difficult. It contained some unfamiliar special terms, but they were easy enough to grasp from the context.

This was a special technique inclined toward the wood attribute. It had some healing effects, was upright and peaceful in nature, and was unlikely to cause deviation. It involved one thousand and eighty meridians.

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

This fellow was really lucky.

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

"There are two ways for internal force to arise."

Jiang Ding spoke slowly. "The first is to temper the body, refining the tendons, bones, and skin. Once this reaches its limit, essence overflows naturally and transforms into inner qi, which then naturally produces internal force. This method is superior, and the resulting internal force is more compatible with oneself."

This method was mainstream in the Immortal Sect.

"The other is to follow the visualization diagram provided by the technique and visualize the body remembering an invisible 'qi.' This is called the Qi-Sensing realm. After prolonged visualization, one's understanding deepens by the day, until false becomes real and internal force truly arises within one's qi and blood."

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

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

What surprised him was that Han Lin possessed an eidetic memory. He remembered everything after hearing it once, then asked Jiang Ding about several crucial points he had not understood.

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

Spiritual-Root Qi-Conversion Structure!

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

The two techniques were of different grades, yet this aspect was exactly the same.

Those with four spiritual roots cultivated ten to twenty percent faster. Those with three spiritual roots cultivated forty to fifty percent faster, while those with two spiritual roots cultivated twice as fast!

If all internal cultivation techniques possessed this structure, then the better one's spiritual roots were, the faster one cultivated.

"Could... some immortal cultivation sect have deliberately released these as a way to select disciples?"

Jiang Ding guessed.

His heart chilled. From now on, he needed to act even more cautiously and not casually expose objects from the Immortal Sect.