Chapter 1288: 1256: Vice Marshal Great Sun Celestial Lord of Xianmen Sect

Chapter 1288: Chapter 1256: Vice Marshal Great Sun Celestial Lord of Xianmen Sect

Ten years is an incredibly fleeting period for a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Refining treasures during tribulations, deducing swordsmanship and cultivation methods, cultivating, participating in the Immortal Sect’s Void Refining Scripture project and Harmonization Formation development—living as if one were multiple people, perpetually occupied.

Jiang Ding felt as though he had mulled things over briefly, and these ten years had just slipped away.

It wasn’t at all disorienting.

Over the course of two millennia, he had long since grown accustomed to such a life of cultivation, research, and warfare—every Heavenly Monarch within the Immortal Sect lived in much the same manner.

On this day, Jiang Ding sealed various research documents, handed others off to his avatars, and arranged all affairs within the Immortal Sect.

Buzz!

Simultaneously, the Great Sun Heavenly Pond disengaged from the Immortal Sect’s Thirty-Third Heavenly Gang Orbit, proceeding toward the banyan Super Transmission Array outside the Immortal Sect Mother Planet.

Here, Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch and the other Heavenly Monarchs of the Immortal Sect were already waiting.

The Great Sun Heavenly Pond came to a halt.

A youth clothed in green descended and landed before the gathered crowd.

“Blessings!”

“Blessings to the Great Sun Celestial Lord—may you quell the rebellion in the Jiao Ming Domain and return victorious!”

Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch bowed deeply, offering a profound ceremony.

With every expedition of the Immortal Sect Fleet, he would always bid farewell in this manner, wishing safety and triumph upon the citizens’ fleet—venturing to expand the open living space for Immortal Sect citizens, broadening the territories bathed in sunlight and spiritual veins.

“To all esteemed elders, I will do my utmost.”

Jiang Ding returned the gesture.

He then turned and departed.

Under the command of Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch, the Bone Forest Special Starry Sky Corps followed suit; tens of thousands of warships, air-space motherships, and others entered the Great Sun Heavenly Pond.

This was the strengthened guard corps provided by the Immortal Sect to Jiang Ding.

In addition to fighting on the frontlines, they carried out certain political functions, such as stabilizing local Minor Thousand Worlds and cultivating officer candidates post-expansion.

Golden Pill cultivators commanded regiment-level conscripted fleets, while Immortals of Nascent Soul took charge of corps-level drafted units—this was becoming standard practice.

Among a conscripted fleet of tens of thousands of cultivators, the number of citizens of the Immortal Sect might be no more than a few dozen, filling key positions.

This placed exceptionally high demands on the military and political acumen of their officers—an arduous challenge indeed.

Within the Great Sun Heavenly Pond, various fleets entered their bases.

Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch, along with her corps’ staff headquarters, reached the Sun Abyss, where they encountered the meditating Great Sun Celestial Lord as well as the numerous Nascent Soul Immortal strategists of the Immortal Sect’s Jiao Ming Domain Second Expeditionary Army General Staff.

Surrounding them was an immense, shadowy map of the starry sky, outlining the hundred Minor Thousand Worlds within the Jiao Ming Domain and the locations of rebel forces therein.

The names, strengths, numbers of Spirit Transformation cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators, as well as the military formations of various rebel factions were marked clearly…

Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch’s gaze lingered momentarily on a marked point labeled “Skull Mountain Small World.”

Skull Mountain Small World—the ancestral domain of the Skull Blood Vine Demon Clan, a former realm-dominating power that emerged during the millennia-long war amidst the collapse of the Horned Demon Imperial Clan’s reign and the ensuing chaos in the domain. Swiftly seizing this region, they expanded aggressively, forming a fledgling domain-level force.

Currently, they boasted eleven Spirit Transformation stage cultivators, seventeen hundred Nascent Soul cultivators…

…Twenty-seven years ago, under the Shadow Demon Abyss Cultivators’ instigation, the leader of the Skull Blood Vine Demon Clan—a mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator known as ‘Steelbone’—slaughtered 15,072 Immortal Sect citizens within Skull Mountain Small World and its environs. They obliterated tax offices, enforcement agencies, and agricultural departments operated by the Immortal Sect, proclaimed himself Skull Vine Emperor, and established the Skull Blood Vine Demon Imperial Court.

“Jiang Ding, take a look.”

“The Skull Blood Vine Demon Clan truly displays qualities befitting a dominant force.”

Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch chuckled softly: “In a mere thousand years, they’ve resurged in the domain and expanded their influence at an astonishing pace—indeed deserving of their former status as contenders against the Horned Demon Imperial Clan for realm dominator authority.”

“Perhaps, in the future, this race might even produce a Harmonization cultivator…”

She smiled warmly, though her eyes carried an icy chill.

With an inquisitive gaze, she turned to the green-clothed youth meditating before her.

“He who slaughters our citizens shall die.”

“Any who participated, even tangentially—no matter how slight their involvement—must perish.”

Jiang Ding opened his eyes slowly and spoke: “If every high-level cultivator of the Skull Blood Vine Demon Imperial Court was involved, then all high-level members—every one of them—must die.”

“If the entire Skull Blood Vine Demon Clan was implicated, then the entirety of their clan must be extinguished.”

His tone was calm.

Gone was his former gentleness and affection—once displayed in the presence of Emperor’s Vine Flower of the Skull Blood Vine Demon Clan.

An immense and boundless killing intent radiated outward like an icy sea, though it caused no harm to surrounding Immortal Sect citizens, reflecting an exquisite mastery of control.

The many Nascent Soul Immortal strategists in the staff froze momentarily.

Truly, a veteran Heavenly Monarch of the Immortal Sect—one of the venerable masters of the Immortal Sect Sword Dao Science Academy.

Typically perceived as gentle, the Great Sun Spirit Transformation cultivator had welcomed countless elites from myriad races into his fold, practicing unparalleled benevolence with no trace of sharpness.

Yet when the interests of Immortal Sect citizens were infringed upon, his true edge finally revealed itself—a glimpse of its cruelty.

Gentle.

Yes, gentle.

In the eyes of many Nascent Soul Immortals of the Immortal Sect, the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch was kindhearted, virtuous, and affable. Whether answering questions from juniors or advising them on future cultivation plans, he displayed remarkable patience, care, and even a touch of humor—never arrogantly distant.

Such had become their lasting impression of him.

Some had begun to worry that his gentleness toward alien races might be excessive, preparing words of counsel for an opportune moment.

Events proved that a junior’s worldview was indeed limited.

“Hahaha…”

“Exquisite!”

Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch laughed heartily, her dark green hair flaring as her killing intent surged: “Jiang Ding, you may welcome elites from the myriad races—I won’t oppose—but any who dare challenge the survival rights of our citizens must see their race annihilated. That is the unshakable bottom line.”

“Those filthy bones—if they’re not slaughtered en masse, they’ll truly believe that while the Horned Demon Imperial Clan’s blades are sharp, the Immortal Sect’s cannons are but watering hoses.”

“I think we need to tell them.”

“That’s a mistaken belief!”

Receiving the answer she sought, Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch swiftly assumed her directive.

“Vice Marshal,”

“Presently, our conscripted forces have completed assembly near the domain passage, undergone corps-level training, and are awaiting our command.”

Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch spoke with solemnity.

Immortal Sect’s Vice Marshal.

This was the military rank bestowed upon the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch at the establishment of the Immortal Sect’s Jiao Ming Domain Second Expeditionary Army—a title granted by the Immortal Sect Military Committee to oversee such a colossal force.

In theory, the Vice Marshal was granted authority to act autonomously, adhering only to distant commands.

According to Immortal Sect military regulations, a guard Starry Sky Legion was assigned to the Vice Marshal, tasked both with protection and surveillance—Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch’s designated duty.

“Can the safety of the domain passage be ensured?”

Jiang Ding inquired.

The conscripted corps of the Immortal Sect were not permitted to set foot on the Mother Planet, a stipulation designed to preemptively mitigate potential future threats. Thus, their assembly location differed from his own.

“At present, it can.”

“The Nine Spirits Life and Death Illusionary Yin-Yang Dust Formation surrounding the domain passage remains securely under the Central Array Spirit Computer offshoot’s control, with no anomalies. In the event of unforeseen circumstances, we are fully capable of destroying the domain passage immediately, ensuring it wouldn’t be exploited by the Eight Great Immortal Sects.”

Bone Forest Heavenly Monarch declared grimly.

This issue had long been deliberated by numerous Heavenly Monarchs within the Immortal Sect.

Cutting off the paths for Great Experts’ return—the Immortal Sect possessed substantial confidence in obliterating the Eight Great Immortal Sects, achieving unification of the Nine Spirits Realm, exercising effective control over more than two hundred Minor Thousand Worlds. The birth of Harmonization cultivators wouldn’t necessarily require holding the Jiao Ming Domain.