The Sacred Land and the Empress

Name: Jiang Ming

Cultivation base: Dao Seed Realm.

Cultivation method: Grand Path Almighty Method Sutra

Spell: Ten Thousand Sword Technique, basic Formations, basic Talismans, and others

Special ability: Great Akasa Formless Sword Qi, Great Akasa Steps, Nine Divine Mountain Treasures

Innate Talent: Immortal (Primary Daoist Body)

Item: Human Path Records, three Shadowless Needles (high-grade Artifact), Noble Robe (low-grade Artifact), Flowing Cloud Sword (top-grade weapon)

Although it did not seem like Jiang Ming had experienced many changes, in truth, his change was dramatic.

His cultivation base was now at the Dao Seed Realm, and his sea of consciousness was close to a radius of 3,000 kilometers. It was both terrifying and incredible at the same time. A Dao Seed sea of consciousness of this size was unprecedented. He had many Dao Seeds in his sea of consciousness as well such as the fused Water, Wood, and Earth Dao Seeds. He had yet to fuse the Fire Metal and Metal Dao Seeds.

There were also the Wind, Thunder, Light, Shadow, Darkness, Death, and Spatial Wave Dao Seeds. He could have fused the Wood and Fire Sambodhas to produce the Wind Sambodha, but he directly gained insights into it by contemplating the Wind character in the world. It was the same for the Thunder Dao Seed.

Some Dao Seeds were in their primary states when he formed them while some were already completed. They each varied.

Jiang Ming was still some ways from forming the Dao Seeds of the Five Elements, Yin Yang, Karma, and the Sambodhas of Destruction, Reincarnation, Fabrication, Space, Time, and Space and Time.

If he gained enlightenment of all of them, his combat strength would increase explosively by several magnitudes. He wondered how vast his sea of consciousness would be at that time.

Unfortunately, he was out of Enlightening Tea Leaves and Enlightening Stones. Although he had gained some from the system, he had quickly used them up.

There were no major changes to his spells, but he was becoming more well-rounded with the spells he had mastered.

When Jiang Ming was tired from cultivating, he spend time studying pills, drawing talismans, experimenting with Formations, and forging Artifacts to spice up his otherwise monotonous life.

He gained a new special ability, the Nine Divine Mountain Treasures. He had yet to gain much of an understanding of it and only learned that it held endless power. The Great Akasa Formless Sword Qi was peerless in offensive strength and stealth, but the Nine Divine Mountain Treasures had terrifying suppressive effects and destructive power. They both had their own advantages. Unfortunately, this was the only special ability he gained after two years; he gained while he was harvesting his crops.

"What's my current combat strength like?" Jiang Ming wondered out loud.

He had far surpassed his master a long time ago. Even Yue Cheng, a First Seat, did not pose a threat to him. A few months ago, he had observed the Sect Master from afar and found that he did not have any reason to fear the Sect Master as well.

"I don't think I've fought a decent battle since I started cultivating…" Jiang Ming shook his head. The rare instances where he had made a move was a one-sided battle. He had easily crushed his opponents, hence, he did not find it enjoyable or stimulating.

Jiang Ming sat on the recliner and continued looking at the falling rain. It would be perfect if his close friends were with him now to enjoy the scenery.

After a while, Jiang Ming began to contemplate his next step.

In less than ten days, it would be 3 years since he obtained the system. He was certain he would be greatly rewarded at that time since he was not rewarded during the second anniversary. He had figured out the pattern of the timing. He would be rewarded for farming on the mountain every seven days, a fortnight, a month, three months, six months, a year, and three years. Perhaps, the next rewards would be five years and ten years from now. Although he was not completely certain, he thought it was likely so.

He would also be hugely rewarded for the 100 Mu of crops that were about to be harvested.

"I hope I'll get more Enlightening Tea Leaves and Enlightening Stones. Otherwise, I'll have to pay a steep price for my ambition!" The steep price he referred to was time.

Jiang Ming was about to cultivate again when he saw a streak of light flying toward him before landing on the greeting platform. It was Zhang Junbao.

"Senior Brother Zhang, are you for more booze?" Jiang Ming rose to his feet and greeted Zhang Junbao with a smile. He lifted his hand and tossed a bottle of wine over. He had personally brewed this bottle of wine.

Zhang Junbao caught the bottle and eagerly opened it. He took a large swig from the bottle before he wiped his lips. He was filled with praise as he said, "Your wine is the best! Not bad, First Disciple Jiang. You're already at the Foundation Establishment Realm! You can be considered a genius in the sect."

With just a leap, Zhang Junbao landed on the rooftop.

Jiang Ming said modestly, "And yet, I'm still far behind you."

Jiang Ming chose to disguise his cultivation base at the Foundation Establishment Realm. With this, he was not considered a peerless genius, but he was still better than most disciples.

"You're almost there. After another decade or two, you'll definitely become a Proud Son of the sect," Zhang Junbao said. Then, his expression turned grim as he continued to say, "Anyway, I came here for another matter as well. A Qingyun Sect elder brought ten disciples here to challenge the Tower of Trials. One of them managed to clear the tower. He's incredibly powerful. As for the other nine, they made it to the eighth floor at least!"

"Amazing!" Jiang Ming was shocked.

"They're more than amazing," Zhang Junbao said, "Qingyun Sect is the Sacred Land of the Eastern Region, after all. Our sect can't compare to them. Anyway, one of Qingyun Sect's disciples suggested a friendly match between the sects. The Sect Master has said that every peak will have to participate in the match. I came here to tell you about this. We can't disobey the Sect Master. Come on."

"Alright!" Jiang Ming did not hesitate at all.

With that, the duo flew away on their swords immediately.

As they flew, Jiang Ming asked, "Senior Brother Zhang, why did the mighty Qingyun Sect visit us?"

"They're not here to make friends for sure," Zhang Junbao said. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he added, "The Elder mentioned Junior Sister Linglong's name several times. Even the core disciples he brought with him mentioned her as well…"

"Does it have anything to do with her phoenix bloodline?" Jiang Ming asked with a frown, "Are they trying to recruit Linglong?"

"I'm not sure," Zhang Junbao said as he shook his head and smiled wryly, "Although they said it's a friendly match, they only want to use it as a chance to flaunt their strength. It's too bad that we're weak so we can only acquiesce and play along."

Jiang Ming felt rather helpless as well.

The Qingyun Sect was the undisputed overlord of the Eastern Region. In comparison, Jiuyang Sect was like a child.

It did not take long before the duo arrived at Taiyang Peak's main plaza. Many disciples were already gathered at this time, and many were on their way over as well.

As soon as the duo landed, they saw Lieyang Peak's Huoyun reeling as he spat out blood.

…

In the Sun Pit, a restricted area.

Zi Linglong's cultivation base had already stabilized after she reached the 9th Extreme of the Golden Core Realm.

At this time, she leaped out of the pit.

"Did you achieve another breakthrough?" Gu Hai asked. He suddenly found it hard to breathe from the pressure his little disciple radiated. While he felt proud for having such a talented disciple, he felt slightly ashamed of himself.

"Yes!" Linglong said excitedly, "I'm ready to return to Chuyang Peak. Let's cultivate there from now on!"

Gu Hai laughed. "Alright! If you continue cultivating here, you'll only bring heartache to the Sect Master!"

Gu Hai was filled with delight whenever he recalled how the Sect Master's face would twitch whenever he saw the liquid in the Sun Pit rapidly depleting after he failed to convince Linglong to become his disciple.

Suddenly, Zi Linglong turned to look at the main hall in Taiyang Peak. "Hm? I sense Senior Brother's aura. What's he doing here?"

Gu Hai briefly recounted what had happened.

"What? The Qingyun Sect disciples proposed a friendly match with disciples from all the peaks? Senior Brother would be beaten up for sure!" Linglong exclaimed. Then, she leaped toward the main hall as she said through gritted teeth, "I'll destroy anyone who dares to harm Senior Brother!"