On Day 60—
Jiang Ling's cultivation progress was steady. Each step she took was bolstered by a transcendent seventh-grade product, establishing unprecedentedly phenomenal foundations of the physical, mental, essence, and especially spiritual energies. The Guiding Dao granted Wei Wuyin the right to guide Jiang Ling in accordance with his comprehension of the Dao, this included his own verified cultivation method, limited to the maximum cultivation standard of the current world.
It was a superbly Dao Card for this reason, not requiring any Blessing Card or initial directive, capable of exceeding the scope of the game. Wei Wuyin allowed her to cultivate the Neo-Dawn Visualization Method for her psyche, a genuine and battle-tested Mental Incantation, the Nascent-Paragonic Body Art for her physique, and the Defier of Constellar Creation Method for essence that could absorb solar essence and convert it into a variety of essences types.
The Nascent-Paragonic Body Art carried profound inspirations from his Stellar-Paragon Physique, allowing her to establish a Nascent-Paragon Mortal Physique by using a commune technique to sense the Mortal Dao, and then extract the purest quintessence and Mana from mortal-grade treasures and the world to refine the body.
All of these methods were self-devised by Wei Wuyin, and they all followed the rules of the Guiding Dao, only reaching the peak of the world in terms of principles and knowledge. He violated none, but in truth—during his decades of concoction, he had invented this triple threat. The only exceptions were the Neo-Dawn Externalization Method and the revised Haven Heart Qi Method that he had perfected over the years.
More importantly, each transcendent product she refined blessed her with miraculous qualities vastly exceeding the expected standard. For example, her psyche-enhancing pill, the Lunaris Lake Elixir hadn't just allowed her psyche to leap from the Earthly Standard-level into the Earthly Excellence-level as would a peak-quality product do for someone of her level but pushed it to the Heavenly Excellence-level while blessing her with a defined talent, the Violet Lunar Palace.
Within her Sea of Consciousness, a brilliant violet moon hung high above, blessing her mental energy sea with a violet hue and a yin frost that emanated from its surface. Her eyes had changed colors, becoming a soft light brown to a domineering violet. Atop her mental energy sea was an image of a paragonic figure that stood proudly and upright as if tasked to protect the mental energy sea at all cost.
The lips of the figure were incessantly moving, repeating the same esoteric mantra that was mostly incomprehensible to Jiang Ling.
Meanwhile, her body and meridians had also undergone significant evolutions. Her physique hadn't changed, but her bloodline and physical energies were flowing with an enriched mana that granted her peerless strength and endurance. Her meridians linked with her organs, slowly extracting the purest quintessence of the elements, imbuing her with Star-Creation Meridians, a joint creation of transcendent product and Cultivation Method. On Day 90—
Jiang Ling played with Jiang Qiangjue within the abode of an 'ancient' cultivator that she had made her own. Recently, she felt her vitality and strength skyrocket by leaps and bounds, finally finishing refining all seven products. Her speed of refinement was only possible due to her evolved and reforged talents, all of which reached the Heavenly Excellence-level, and the ease of refinement that each pill had was absurdly high. She felt fortunate. While she had to deal with the eccentric silver spirit who didn't know his name, only his title—the Saber Ascendant—she was comforted by his presence. She was only at the Second Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, the External Flow Phase, yet in comparison to her desperate situation before, she was given a renewed lease on life.
Any questions she had about cultivation were answered by Wei Wuyin, within limits.
Unbeknownst to her, whenever Wei Wuyin would begin expounding on the Mortal Dao, countless eyes would immediately find their way here, observing by the billions. While details of the cultivation methods were obscured, the profound principles they were derived from were not when explained or taught. Within minutes of real-time, Wei Wuyin's teachings had become a phenomenal sensation.
The depth of his knowledge and exploration of the Mortal Dao was stupendously high, overturning the thoughts of countless cultivators, and allowing them to see their failings in the initial stages of cultivation. They weren't necessarily led astray, but the depth of their cultivation hadn't reached the pinnacle. As a Virtue of the Mortal Dao, possessing a manifestation of its profound principles and blessings, the Belt of Mortal Virtue circulating Little Defiant, Wei Wuyin was, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the highest scholastic authority of all things mortal.
In a way, he had redefined the very limits of what it meant to be mortal, conquering the mystic as a mere mortal. Jiang Ling was blessed to receive such teachings, yet those fortunate enough to listen in were equally as blessed! Not only were Wei Wuyin's lectures becoming famous, but whenever they were happening, Hao Chengxue and Imentet would pause all comments and simply silently wait for the lectures to finish like diligent students.
Their eyes would shine without end, enlightened time and time again.
These insights were not insignificant to them as the Mystic Dao's cultivation path was built upon the Mortal Dao. Understanding some of these principles had solved issues they had for tens of thousands of years. On Day 120—
"It's time for us to leave this place. There's a ruined sanctum of an ancient force nearby. I've sensed traces of alchemy there. If I had to guess, it might have products that could rapidly progress your cultivation base. Then, you can go and find some fragments." Wei Wuyin also deliberately held back higher stages of cultivation in the methods, limiting her to the External Flow Phase. He was dangling the possibility for greater portions of the method by sending her out to gather these so-called 'fragments'. In his explanation, they were fused with others. They might be inactive or active, but they belonged to others, and it was best if she captured or killed those with his fragments.
Jiang Ling wasn't a killer.
"I feel the intense hatred in your heart. I even recall your situation that needed my light to maintain your life. Do you think that you'll get your revenge by asking nicely?" That question had subtly changed her mentality. While she wasn't a killer, her family was torched and slaughtered. She watched her uncle get beheaded to save her. She could still remember his eyes, unwilling and afraid. She packed her things and moved out with purpose. She needed to get stronger. Not just for her, but for Jiang Qiangjue. On Day 155—
Jiang Ling killed her first person. It was a group of dirty road bandits that wanted to sell her to a nearby brothel. They used their vile tongues and licentious eyes to tease her. She didn't feel any regret ending their lives. There, her first kill was by stealing a bandit's saber and slicing his throat, sending his head flying. She was shocked by how easy it was, like cutting through butter. Her first thought was that mortal flesh was quite soft and blood was quite hot. Afterward, she nearly broke down as she blew chunks. The realization of ending entire lives surged into her heart. She wanted to suppress it, but Wei Wuyin refused to allow her to do so.
"Feel it. To kill with conviction, you need to understand that everything, whether they are animals or humans, has lives no different than your own. They have mothers, fathers, siblings, and children. Sometimes they depend on them. Sometimes, they need them. Don't let yourself forget that. Ever.
"Wield your saber with a firm will. When you unsheathe your saber, you must do so with the intent to kill without hesitation. You must be willing to kill the weak and the strong alike, the loved and hated equally, the righteous and the sinners without doubt. Because if you aren't, you'll die in this cruel world. You and everyone you wish to protect." "..." She was mentally distraught. It was only after seeing the cheerful, innocent smile of her Jiang Qiangjue that her heart could establish a firm foundation. Somehow, she both gained a precious belief in life and understood the weight of wielding a saber. She kept the saber. On Day 180—
She found the ancient sanctum that Wei Wuyin mentioned. Moreover, it was guarded by a sect. They had a cultivator at the Elemental Birth Phase, and knowing that it was a single phase higher than her, she was somewhat fearful to act. "Good. Fear will keep you alive, but only by possessing courage can you seek greater heights. Wield your cultivation, claim the secrets of the sanctum. If you don't wish to kill, you don't have to. If you need to kill, don't hesitate. Life is precious. Giving yourself over to a mentality of kill or be killed with fearlessness will taint your mind, but doing so with fear will corrode your soul.
"Be afraid, be cautious, think when you must, but never halt your steps forward. Seize every opportunity! For you. For those you love, both alive and dead."
"..." Jiang Ling clenched her teeth and gripped her saber. She sheathed it, wrapped Jiang Qiangjue tightly on her back, and then sneakily navigated her way through. She easily entered the gaps in their guard, finding the entrance of the sanctum and opening it. This alerted the sect as they hadn't been able to enter. And a fight for treasure began.
Jiang Lin Vs. the sect.
In the end, she dominated the sect, defeating them and claiming all seven boxes within. On her way out, she drew her saber against an Elemental Birth Phase Sect master and killed him in a few exchanges. She hadn't reached the level of using one swing to decide life or death, but that was enough to satisfy Wei Wuyin as she gained real practical experience fighting cultivators, and could now get a gauge of her strength. At the jade table, just a minute or two prior, Wei Wuyin played yet another Alchemic Blessing Card, sending shock waves across the audience and players.
"Another?!" Grand Seer Rippledark's eyes were cloudy and grim, looking at Wei Wuyin intensely as if trying to decipher his skills. When Wei Wuyin openly brought out the blessing to be verified, something he didn't need to do publicly yet did so anyway, he brought out seven transcendent alchemical products designed and renowned for cultivation-progression. "What..." Tianshi Ya's eyes were comically wide, unable to believe what she was seeing. When the judges verified the products with helplessness in their eyes, and great pity towards the other players, they knew that Wei Wuyin had gotten not one but TWO heaven-grade Mystic Cards!
That was insane!
Additionally, since they were both blessings, this meant he had got this one as his drawn card! At this point, they had all drawn at least three cards, excluding Su Yi who was similarly yet a single Chosen, and they hadn't received a single heaven-grade Mystic Card. There weren't many, to begin with, and there was only a single copy of each for every subtype, limiting them to about a few dozen out of tens of thousands, many of which were repeats, so this type of luck was defying the heavens!
Wei Wuyin was about to lift his palm once again with that eternal smile plastered on his face, but Grand Seer Rippledark snorted coldly and focused on his cards. He had to make a play. The others realized this as well. If they didn't delay Wei Wuyin's Chosen or get her killed somehow, they would lose by sheer initial momentum.
Tianshi Ya cursed under her breath; she used an earth-grade Calamity Card to interfere with a blessing and sent a force with a head cultivator a single stage of cultivation higher than the target. In the end, Jiang Ling overcame that challenge. She hated that she couldn't use it at critical power differences between stages, such as the fifth and sixth stages, or the sixth and seventh stages, but since it needed to be used against another's blessing, that meant Jiang Ling would be exceedingly strong by then. Moreover, the standard foundation of the Defiant Dragon Continent's cultivators couldn't be compared to the standard of a greater galaxy.
Everyone besides Su Yi was already playing to use their Calamity Cards to halt Jiang Ling's progress. They hated that Wei Wuyin had only chosen a single Chosen. They could kill the weaker ones otherwise and send punishment down to prematurely end the game.
Even Yue Baoyue had those thoughts. One could tell she was quite stressed!
Su Yi frowned. He was planning for the mid to late game to claim a dominant victory, having chosen a six-year-old boy with that in mind whose talents would bloom with time and carefully curated tactics. This...what the fuck was this?
-----
On Day 273— Jiang Ling carried the newborn Jiang Qiangjue with her as she found the base of the bastards that torched her village. Her violet eyes glinted with a murderous light.
Her current cultivation? Elemental Birth Phase, all nine elements birthed!
Clean Sweep Incoming?

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