Back in the present, Jiang Yun was amazed by the current Ning Nuo. She had long red hair, a feminine figure, and a strong, confident, and imposing aura. She had reached the Tribulation Transformation realm in the time that they had been apart. She was very different from how she used to be, as she had shed her shy behavior and now felt very confident and strong.
Jiang Yun finished his observations and then prompted Ning Nuo to come sit down and talk. "What would you like to talk with me about after coming to seek me?"
Ning Nuo replied emotionally, "Now that I’m no longer that weak little girl, I should be able to help you. Can I please stay with you? I know I’m still not as strong as you are, but I just want to stay with you. Staying with you back then was the best time of my life."
Jiang Yun thought for a moment, deciding that his time with her had been quite nice, as she kept him company during the long years he would have normally traveled alone. He then readily agreed and said, "You can choose anywhere empty to stay. You can do as you please, and I won’t restrict your freedom to roam around."
Ning Nuo soon left, wanting to settle down fast so she could continue being with Jiang Yun. Not long after choosing a room, Ning Nuo went back to Jiang Yun, enjoying his company while she continued cultivating to try to catch up, at least somewhat, to Jiang Yun’s power. Jiang Yun, seeing this, left her to do as she pleased and continued to laze around, waiting for something to do; otherwise, he would continue enjoying his peaceful life.
Time passed and nothing major happened. Jiang Yun became comfortable with this kind of life, and the next thing he knew, a year had gone by, and the people around him had made significant progress. Tang Mei had reached the Soul Formation realm. Nangong Yu had reached the fifth level of Void Solidification. The disciples of these two had reached the Foundation Establishment realm. Bai Yue had reached the Nascent Soul realm. Liu Ying had progressed to the ninth level of Nascent Soul. Hua Jing had reached the Golden Core realm and achieved minor mastery of the Law of Time. Ning Nuo, already being a high-level cultivator, didn’t progress as much, but had advanced to the third level of Tribulation Transformation.
Jiang Yun was quite pleased with their progress, as he himself knew how hard it was to cultivate and wanted to provide them with an easier time than he had. These peaceful days were interrupted as a treasure fell from the sky, creating a crack in the heavens before slowly sealing back up. A treasure from the Immortal Realm had fallen. This treasure just so happened to fall toward the Invincible Cloud Sect.
Seeing this treasure coming toward him, Jiang Yun disappeared from his chair, stood in front of the treasure, grabbed it, put it away, and then went back to his seat. Jiang Yun then took it out to study why such a thing had fallen to the mortal realm.
Upon closer inspection, it was a sword that exuded a deathly aura. This sword must have been used by someone in a fight just moments ago, and that person somehow dealt enough damage to rip through space. The suction from the space tearing probably pulled in the sword, making it appear in the mortal realm. This kind of power, even with this high-level sword, is not something an ordinary immortal could do. This kind of power at least requires a half-step into the Beginning Dao realm to achieve, and even then, it would only be a small gap, just enough to fit this sword.
This sword looked to be of a very high level, enough to cause envy even among Immortal Emperors. Even though trouble might come with this sword, Jiang Yun decided to keep it. Jiang Yun was a collector of herbs; whenever he got items other than those for direct cultivation, he would just trade them for more resources. So, he lacked weapons to give to people in the sect.
The only weapon he had now was a single Dao-realm attacking treasure that he no longer even needed to use, as he could easily kill anyone he wanted. This treasure is not something anyone from the mortal realm could use, or they would suffer a backlash and possibly die. This immortal sword, though powerful, was still within the means of a mortal realm cultivator to use. Though not at its maximum power, even a little bit should be enough as a trump card.
Jiang Yun decided to give it to Hua Jing, as she is his disciple and he should treat her well. Jiang Yun didn’t have any good weapons to give her before, so now that he did, he might as well use the opportunity to give her something valuable. Receiving the sword, Hua Jing was very grateful and went back to seclusion to refine the new weapon. With the sword, even though she was only a Golden Core, she could even harm a Soul Formation realm cultivator.
Jiang Yun, knowing many others also sensed the sword, sat back on his chair, waiting for the trouble to arrive as he was not afraid. If some blind fool came to offend him, he wouldn’t mind destroying their sect. Jiang Yun didn’t need to wait too long, as within an hour, many people arrived searching for the treasure. After a quick search around, they traced the sword down to the Invincible Cloud Sect.
Arriving, the visitors arrogantly walked into the sect, confident they could get the treasure from the Immortal Realm and improve their combat power. Many groups arrived in front of Jiang Yun, who was waiting for them patiently as he wanted to deal with them all at once. After all the groups arrived, Jiang Yun then finally greeted the crowd: "What have you all come to my sect for?"
Several people then demanded to know where the immortal treasure was and ordered him to hand it over. Even though they had heard of Jiang Yun destroying a few sects, it was not enough to scare them, as the sects he had destroyed thus far were insignificant trash at the Nascent Soul realm. Any of the people here had backings, or they themselves could easily destroy such sects. So, they didn’t take Jiang Yun seriously and were sure this man would willingly hand over the treasure, as there was no way for him to monopolize the immortal treasure.
As for who would get the treasure in the end, many forces were confident that as long as they could see the treasure, they could seize it. Jiang Yun replied to the crowd, "I indeed do have an immortal treasure, but why would I give it to you people? It is now mine, and no one can take it. If you try, then face death."
Hearing Jiang Yun’s arrogant speech, the crowd laughed at this foolish man in front of them overestimating himself. Soon, they showed a serious face, and many people decided to capture Jiang Yun to find where the treasure was, or even better, if he had it on his person. To their surprise, Jiang Yun was still calm and only raised his hand, making a waving motion. The people attacking suddenly felt a chill, but before they could react, they all died, turning into a mist of blood.
The people who were watching were shocked. Some among the group who had attacked were Mahayana realm cultivators, not to be underestimated in the cultivation world. Yet, they had been killed so easily and so fast. Nevertheless, the shock was only momentary, as the crowd was still confident. Though Jiang Yun did kill that group of people, it was nothing compared to the remaining people who hadn’t attacked yet. Among the remaining were many half-immortals that would soon ascend. Their confidence was not only based on this, but the sects behind them still had several Mahayana realm cultivators who were in the later stages.
The leaders of many groups then threatened Jiang Yun, saying, "Now that you have killed our people, prepare to suffer at the hands of our sects. We won’t let you go."
The remaining people, excluding the young masters of each force, launched their attack on Jiang Yun. Normally, anyone in the cultivation realm who was attacked by so many high-level cultivators definitely wouldn’t survive the onslaught. Unfortunately for them, Jiang Yun was not an easy opponent. Effortlessly, Jiang Yun killed all of the attackers in mere moments.
Seeing this, the remaining young masters were alarmed and somewhat afraid. They immediately started using the names of the sects behind them to threaten Jiang Yun. Jiang Yun, wanting to settle everything at once, allowed them to speak their final words to find out which sects to destroy. After hearing all of the sects' names, Jiang Yun killed the rest of the invaders.
Ning Nuo, who was hiding nearby due to Jiang Yun’s warning, came out once she saw it was safe and said in amazement, "You are so powerful! You killed all these strong people. When will I ever reach this level?"
Jiang Yun, not replying to her question, ordered Ning Nuo, "I’m going to destroy their sects. You wait here and protect the sect, as you’re the next strongest person. I will be back soon, so don’t worry."
Jiang Yun then disappeared after finishing his words. Ning Nuo, remaining there alone, felt very unhappy. She, a dignified Tribulation Transformation realm cultivator, still couldn’t help him and could only be treated like a child, left to stay at home and watch over the house obediently. The very unhappy Ning Nuo followed Jiang Yun’s request and watched over the sect for any more invaders.
Jiang Yun, having disappeared, reappeared at his first destination: one of the top powers in this region. This region was the East Region; though it was the weakest region, it still contained many powerhouses in the Mahayana realm. It seems that in the time since Jiang Yun had ascended, the cultivation world had gotten much stronger, as even the weakest region now has several Mahayana realm cultivators and even some half-immortals.
Jiang Yun then wondered what the Central Region was like now. Could sects in the Central Region have several half-immortals? If so, the sect back then in the Central Region would be a joke now. They would barely qualify for a top spot in the weak East Region. Setting his thoughts aside, Jiang Yun then turned his attention back to the sect he had come to destroy and immediately crushed it with a hand.
After that, Jiang Yun traveled to many other sects, each time turning them into a crater. Having destroyed so many sects, rumors started going around about how a monster was going around destroying sects. This caused many powerful sects to start becoming more low-key and stop acting out as much. The rumors spread throughout the region, and the people gave the name "Sect Annihilator" to Jiang Yun.
Jiang Yun, not knowing this, finished destroying the last sect and finally went back to the Invincible Cloud Sect. Upon arriving back, Jiang Yun saw Ning Nuo lazing around, bored. This showed that no one came to invade since he left, which relieved Jiang Yun. Jiang Yun then warned Ning Nuo to be careful these days, as this is the beginning, since people from the immortal world might descend to reclaim the immortal treasure, and that nobody should go out for a while.
Ning Nuo, understanding this, relayed the news to the rest of the sect. Jiang Yun then sat back down to wait for the next wave of trouble to come and get themselves killed. Though Jiang Yun isn’t cold-blooded, destroying sects is quite fun when you are bored and have nothing better to do.