The Computer Man's arm extended, spiraling as it spun, and with Nacent Soul level power and Divine Sense, it thrust toward the nearby Canghai Heavenly Monarch, the drill-shaped arm occasionally flashing with gold light.
Jiang Ding's heart skipped a beat.
This was evidently a slight pull on some unknown Metal Element Origin power, greatly increasing the attack speed and power.
A single punch had the Canghai Heavenly Monarch screaming as he was thrown flying, his nose askew and blood flowing out.
But this seemed not to be a constant state; only after a long interval could it be sustained once more. The Canghai Heavenly Monarch, having recovered, emitted ripple after ripple of water waves around his body, engulfing the Computer Man's extended arm, and then pulled it towards him, pummeling it repeatedly with a series of blows, eliciting continuous screams.
Within his water ripples, gold threads would occasionally flash by.
"They are very strong..."
"This has only been what, less than twenty years?!"
Jiang Ding took a deep breath, "In under twenty years, they're already able to apply some of the techniques and principles from 'Immortal Art: Golden Emperor Bathing Beauty' in a preliminary fashion. Although the approach differs, there truly are some results being applied here."
This truly startled him.
Twenty years, even for a Golden Pill Monk, was not a particularly long time, and yet a group of Heavenly Monarchs had forcefully produced results related to Immortal Art.
The research and development capabilities of the Xianmen Sect exceeded his estimations by quite a bit!
It was only because Refining Nothingness lacked a concrete reference that Jiang Ding suspected the Xianmen Sect would have already figured out the Relevant Nothingness Cultivation Method if not for that limitation. Otherwise, they wouldn't be like they are now, unable to make a breakthrough for a long time.
He didn't continue to wait. While the Heavenly Monarch Wanji once again unleashed his divine power, his mechanical arms extending and tying up the Canghai Heavenly Monarch into a twisted mess before pounding on him, Jiang Ding took the opportunity to ask.
"Elder Wanji, how should I go about synthesizing this kind of material?"
Jiang Ding seized the moment to pose a question, shaking the four Sword Refining Materials from the Great Sun Sword Sect in his hand: Fire Spirit Copper, Green Wood Red Iron, Ice Cold Jade, and Melting Sword Stone.
The sense of time for a Heavenly Monarch differed greatly from ordinary people. They could fight continuously for several months without surprise, and if you really waited for a Heavenly Monarch to be free from all their tasks, your lifespan could be at its end.
So it was with asking questions. Although he didn't have much relationship with the Heavenly Monarch Wanji in the past, seeing him and asking was akin to encountering any teacher on campus and raising a query about a test.
Naturally, it was an ordinary occurrence within the Xianmen Sect, and nobody found it strange.
Hmm, Jiang Ding himself would often be approached by Qi cultivators with questions while strolling around the school grounds.
"Ah, the Dari Swordsman..."
The computer screen of Heavenly Monarch Wanji displayed a perplexed old man's face, which then disappeared and restored to a triumphant expression, not pausing in his beating of the Canghai Heavenly Monarch.
"Are these Sword Cultivator materials for refining swords? I think I might have confiscated some from an enemy before."
In front of Jiang Ding, a computer screen appeared, displaying the puzzled face of the old man. Divine Sense swept over the four materials and he continued, "I've never worked on these kinds of things. One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven years ago, there was a Divinity Transformation level Sword Cultivator from the Five Elements Heavenly Sect who wanted to enlist my services for refining these materials, but I ignored him then, as Xianmen Sect prohibitions forbid exporting relevant items."
Jiang Ding was somewhat nervous.
He was aware of the prejudice and distaste the older generation held against Sword Cultivators, perhaps even more extreme than the Sun Extinguisher Heavenly Monarch, though not as lively or expressive.
"What then, what then, it can be done."
"As long as it's not exported."
The old man on the computer screen rolled his eyes, "With just the one in front of you, because of a complete lack of research beforehand, it would have to undergo at least several hundred thousand rounds of experiments and re-experiments, applying the Xianmen Sect's technology throughout, and it would take at least two hundred years or so, given the experimental process is just so."
"Oh right, you seem to be quite wealthy."
Heavenly Monarch Wanji thought of something.
"Then just set up hundreds of laboratories at once, complete with tens of thousands of PhDs, masters, undergraduates, and postgraduates—it should take twenty or thirty years to complete. This thing isn't that difficult; it's all about experimentation and adjusting formulas. The time it takes to run these repeated experiments can't be saved, no matter who does it."
In the eyes of others, what was extremely difficult was, for Heavenly Monarchs, merely a simple equation. Plug it into the formula, run through the experimental process, and the answer would emerge.
Jiang Ding was overjoyed and then asked, "What about the fourth-tier kind? The Scorching Sun Spirit Iron that can be matched with the Great Sun Flying Sword to promote the growth of the Taiqing Flying Sword—have you heard of it?"
The person on the computer screen showed a hesitant expression: "Fourth-tier sword refining materials are easy to come by, but to match the Great Sun Flying Sword, I can't make an accurate judgment. This material is for the Refinement Void Level flying sword embryos, or it might belong to an obscure, unpopular direction in Sword Dao—my ability is insufficient."
"Scorching Sun Spirit Iron... wait a moment, let me do a search."
"Scorching Sun Spirit Iron is the highest grade material used by the Great Sun Sword Cultivators for sword cultivation. What the Dari Swordsmen use is even a specially custom-made version..."
Immortal Wanji showed a look of headache, "Xianmen's synthetic material industry is highly developed, but they know little about Sword Dao... It will take more than three hundred years."
"Give me more than three hundred years, and with just pure Xianmen technology, without using Sword Dao, I can create something effective for you. Even if it's not as good as the original version from the Great Sun Sword Pavilion, it will add various powerful effects to the flying sword, and at least it will be effective and without side effects."
"Of course, the costs for development and experimental research will have to be covered by you."
Heavenly Monarch Wanji added.
He decided to take a direct hand in this himself, allocating a small thread of Divine Sense to the task, no longer just providing a plan for the cultivators below him, clearly believing they were incapable of developing something of this level.
Jiang Ding bowed deeply, expressing his gratitude.
In the face of a blank technological horizon, this was the best that Heavenly Monarchs could do when they intervened; Sword Dao was too obscure and unpopular for them, possibly requiring them to learn many aspects of Sword Dao knowledge that were not directly useful to them.
"It's a trivial matter."
Heavenly Monarch Wanji closed the computer screen in front of him and continued to use his understanding of Immortal Techniques to beat up Canghai Heavenly Monarch, who howled piteously in response.
But soon, Canghai Heavenly Monarch found a certain knack in the exchange. The frequency of gold strands flashing in the tsunami waves around him increased, and he shook off the constraints of the mechanical arms. He pinned down Heavenly Monarch Wanji and raged at him, demanding to know whether he admitted his mistake and if he would submit.
From time to time, juniors similar to Jiang Ding respectfully came over to ask questions—about cultivation or research—and both Heavenly Monarchs dealt with them by allocating a tiny thread of Divine Sense, without distracting from their own fight.
"Three hundred years..."
Jiang Ding did quick calculations in his head.
"This is the time it takes to create something from nothing, with no prior information. Xianmen's strength is already remarkable."
"If there were a sample of Scorching Sun Spirit Iron and its technology available, even if not the Dari Swordsman version, I believe squeezing the time down to twenty or thirty years wouldn't be a problem at all; it might even turn out better than the Great Sun Sword Pavilion version."
"On the Northern Plains side, if conditions allow, we should probably accelerate the process..."
Having thought through these matters, Jiang Ding moved in front of "Immortal Art: Golden Emperor Bathing Beauty," closed his eyes to comprehend the Metal Element Causality within, while also reflecting on his own Destroying Golden Sword. This had become his routine over the years.