Chapter 13: Used Yet Never Exhausted

At last, the sun sank beneath the western horizon, and the entire earth entered the night with a sigh.

Within the Heaven-Connecting Palace, that tiny earthworm finally completed its long journey and spat out another round, full dao essence.

The moments when the morning sun first rose and when the evening sun was about to set were the best times for cultivation during the day. The sunlight was warm but not scorching, gentle but not harmful. Especially for low-level cultivators, it could protect the dao meridians very well. In the past, there had been no shortage of people who cultivated at noon, only to have the sun’s true fire stir up the fire in their hearts, burning their bodies and destroying their meridians.

This was what was meant by “receiving purple qi at dawn and drawing in crimson霞 at dusk.”

Even with Jiang Wang’s physique, tempered through martial practice since childhood, he could feel his qi and blood being squeezed to a critical limit. Any further, and it would damage his vitality. The little earthworm within the Heaven-Connecting Palace also looked somewhat sluggish.

Of course, at this critical point, the body would not actually feel weak. The dao essence nurtured within the Heaven-Connecting Palace was like tiny hearts, pumping strength at every moment.

All of this allowed Jiang Wang to deeply understand the teachings he had received in class. From the power of qi and blood to the birth of dao essence, this was a sublimation of strength, the very foundation of human transcendence.

He had heard that true martial cultivators did not nurture dao essence, but instead purely tempered their physiques and refined their qi and blood. That was another path entirely.

In the world today, feudal lords contended, sects stood everywhere, and countless schools of thought flourished. The Great Dao had infinite branches. One could say it was a golden age of cultivation. But for Jiang Wang, who lived in Zhuang Country, there were no other choices.

Jiang Wang carefully controlled the dao essence as it moved within the Heaven-Connecting Palace, filling the Zhou Tian Star Formation Diagram that he already knew by heart. This process was not easy.

The reason was that human spiritual power, like qi and blood power, also had its limits at a certain stage.

For a cultivator like Jiang Wang, who had only just stepped onto the transcendent path, moving dao essence twice a day was already the limit. Any more would lead to spiritual exhaustion, and in severe cases might even damage one’s mind.

Jiang Wang knew deeply that the foundational formation diagram he had chosen would require an extremely long time, so he especially dared not waste any effort. He acted as cautiously as if walking on thin ice. The slightest mistake would require him to start over.

And he had not given himself the time to start over.

There were only two opportunities each day to arrange formation points. He could not afford to waste even one of them.

Even if the Zhou Tian Star Formation Diagram was far more complicated and difficult than the Return-Origin Formation.

Suppose someone cultivated alongside Jiang Wang and chose the Return-Origin Formation Diagram as their foundation. Assuming both arranged their formation points perfectly, that person would inevitably be much faster than Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang did not know whether his choice was correct.

But since he had made his choice, there was no reason to turn back.

He could only move forward, only do his utmost.

Fortunately, he was doing fairly well. By the time today’s final meridian circulation cultivation ended, dozens of dao essences were already suspended within the Heaven-Connecting Palace. Each one was full and complete, like ripe rice grains in autumn fields, giving off the scent of harvest.

All of these would become the nourishment for his “path to heaven.”

But for Jiang Wang, there was still another important matter.

At this moment, the dormitory was completely empty. Ling He and Du Yehu had both gone on missions. Having already entered the inner academy, they naturally desired Meridian Opening Pills even more desperately.

Jiang Wang’s mind sank, and he entered the Taixu Illusory Realm.

Today was the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the challenge day of the month. If nothing unexpected happened, today he would receive the challenge from the master of the Azure Jade Altar.

And he would smoothly… be demoted.

The familiar scene remained.

The great starry sky.

Jiang Wang sat cross-legged, silently gazing at the sundial phantom, waiting for the moment the challenge would arrive.

He wanted to witness the strength of the true powerhouses of this world.

Although he had “heard” such an intense battle within the ruined True Return Temple, he had never personally seen it. When Dong A had acted previously, his opponents had been utterly incapable of resistance.

Sitting beneath this starry sky, he felt his heart becoming vast and empty as well.

The moment humanity first gazed upon the stars, history began its charge.

Compared to the immense river of stars, everything in the human world seemed so tiny and illusory.

Who knew how much time had passed before five ink-black words appeared on the sundial phantom—

“The challenger has forfeited.”

Jiang Wang relaxed inwardly, though he also felt a strange disappointment.

He had preserved this month’s production of merit from the Cave True Ruins Blessed Land. But that was likely only because of the overwhelming deterrence left behind by the previous owner of the blessed land.

That blazing figure named Zuo Guanglie!

People who entered the Taixu Illusory Realm generally concealed their real-world identities. Aside from themselves, no one knew what kind of fame they possessed within the Taixu Illusory Realm. Thus, very few people knew that the master of the Cave True Ruins within the Taixu Illusory Realm was the great Chu genius Zuo Guanglie.

Now, even fewer would know.

Even if someone had previously made accurate guesses based on battle style, all such assumptions now had to be overturned.

Because under normal circumstances, when a person died in the real world, their identity within the Taixu Illusory Realm also vanished.

But Zuo Guanglie had forcibly activated the power of Zhu Rong’s true body, nearly burning through space-time itself. Combined with an immensely powerful obsession lingering behind, various factors had tangled together and created an accident.

As a result, the Taixu Illusory Realm failed to reclaim the Void Key in time, allowing Jiang Wang to imprint upon it.

Thus, he inherited everything Zuo Guanglie possessed within the Taixu Illusory Realm.

Blessed Land Rank Twenty-Three, Cave True Ruins!

Monthly merit production: 1,850 points.

…

“Dao Deduction Platform.”

Jiang Wang silently recited the words in his heart.

A green bamboo desk appeared before him out of thin air, yet it did not feel abrupt in the slightest.

It was as natural as crops growing from the earth, though the process itself had been omitted.

There was nothing upon the bamboo desk except a jade book lying open, currently blank.

Jiang Wang already had experience with this once before. He only needed to visualize the cultivation method he wished to deduce and invest the corresponding amount of merit. The resulting technique would then appear within the jade book.

Previously, the Zhou Tian Star Formation Diagram had been deduced from the Return-Origin Formation in exactly this way.

Now, however, his foundational formation was not yet complete. The dao vortex had not yet formed. Every dao essence spent was one less he possessed. Naturally, deducing dao arts was unrealistic.

Even Jiang Wang himself had only simulated dao arts mentally and had never truly practiced one.

After all, during the early stages of cultivation, dao essence was simply too precious.

Yet it could not be said that merit should simply be left unused and saved for the future.

One had to understand that on the cultivation path, if one did not advance, one retreated. And between tomorrow and disaster, no one knew which would arrive first. Therefore, making oneself as strong as possible at every stage was the true principle.

Jiang Wang thought for a moment, then among the several sword arts he was best at, he chose a particularly fierce and aggressive sword art for deduction.

And the amount of merit he chose to spend was—

All 1,850 points!

The atmosphere throughout Zhuang Country favored dao arts over martial techniques. But at Jiang Wang’s current stage, he had no choice. His foundation was incomplete, and he dared not use even the strongest dao arts.

Since he had chosen to strengthen his swordsmanship, then he would do so with everything he had, without holding anything back.

The jade book on the bamboo desk instantly filled with countless words. It was the ordinary sword technique Jiang Wang had learned in the outer academy of Maple Forest City Dao Academy. Aside from being fierce, it possessed nothing exceptional.

But at this moment, the merit count on the sundial phantom continuously decreased, while the words within the jade book began changing wildly.

Jiang Wang focused intently upon them.

Those words actually seemed to transform into human figures drawing swords and dancing.

Faster and faster they danced, until they seemed to blur together into a single mass.

Jiang Wang could not help narrowing his eyes. He actually felt as though sharpness itself was stabbing at them!

When he blinked and looked again, the words within the jade book had already quieted down.

What appeared before him was a profound and mysterious sword manual unlike anything he had ever seen before, beyond even what he had imagined possible.

Back in the outer academy, Jiang Wang had been publicly acknowledged as the number one swordsman.

But now, reading this sword art, he suddenly felt that everything he had practiced before had merely been crude farmer’s tricks suitable only for tilling fields!

The merit count on the sundial phantom had already fallen to zero.

Yet Jiang Wang let out a deeply satisfied sigh.

Everything had been worth it!

[End of Chapter]