The trip to Nanyao City could be called a bountiful harvest.
Ten ten-thousand meridian stones were not only the hard currency of the extraordinary world, but could also serve as cultivation resources and supplies for prolonged combat.
The two Rank-A low-grade Dao arts Jiang Wuyong had lost to him were both fire-elemental: one was an attack-type Dao art called Resonance Flamefinch, and the other was an evasion-type Dao art called Flame Meteor.
Although cultivating the Four-Spirit Body Refining Art had given him deeper control over the four elemental forces of wood, metal, water, and fire, this method was fundamentally focused on body refinement. His elemental control hadn't reached the level of Wang Changxiang's innate Wind Sparrow True Spirit, which would have allowed him to master Dao arts beyond his current tier.
Both of these Dao arts could only be formally cultivated after reaching the Soaring Dragon realm.
As usual, Jiang Chen entered the Ethereal Realm and used the Deduction Platform to analyze these two Dao arts.
It wasn't that his first-level Deduction Platform was capable of optimizing such high-quality Rank-A Dao arts. He had previously tried with Tigerbind, Flamebloom, and Thorn Crown, but for such refined Dao arts, the first-level platform offered no room for improvement.
His primary purpose was to use the Ethereal Realm's Deduction Platform to verify whether these two Dao arts had been tampered with.
On the journey to the State of Qi, Jiang Chen had experienced the fifteenth of February's Blessed Land challenge, falling from Blessed Land Taoshan to Blessed Land Huangjing.
During this sword-forging trip, he had missed the fifteenth of March's Blessed Land challenge. He dropped from Huangjing to Blessed Land thirtieth-ranked Lanke Mountain. His monthly Merit production was now only one thousand one hundred and fifty points.
Because he hadn't been matched for battles much during this period, his Merit had accumulated. He now had five thousand five hundred points.
He placed the jade slip materialized in the Ethereal Realm onto the Deduction Platform and selected analysis.
After consuming two hundred Merit points, the deduction concluded.
There were indeed problems!
Jiang Chen picked up the jade slip and examined it. Only two inconspicuous seal formulas had been corrected—impossible to detect before. After correction and verification, the issue became immediately clear.
If he had practiced the Dao arts as Jiang Wuyong provided, some critical flaw might have emerged during a crucial battle.
It was precisely because he knew about the Ethereal Realm that Chongxuan Sheng had advised him to choose Dao arts when selecting his赌注.
When he had previously attempted to perfect the three Dao arts Chongxuan Sheng helped him find, the deduction yielded no results. However, a prompt had appeared in the Ethereal Realm at that time: "Submit this Dao art to the Deduction Platform to earn contribution points?"
Although curious about the platform's subsequent changes, Jiang Chen hadn't submitted them because he didn't own those three Dao arts.
These two Dao arts won from Jiang Wuyong, however, needn't be concealed. Although it was now known that the Ethereal Realm wasn't exclusive, others might obtain his submitted Dao arts through Merit consumption, these arts weren't uniquely his in the first place. Jiang Wuyong definitely had copies.
Submitting Rank-A low-grade Dao art: Resonance Flamefinch. Submitting Rank-A low-grade Dao art: Flame Meteor.
Successive prompts appeared from the Ethereal Realm.
Deduction Platform: Second level unsealed.
Contribution point resources unlocked.
Meridian spent on Deduction Platform advancement is called "Merit"; Meridian needed for platform upgrades is called "Dao Points." Meridian earned from Sword Dueling Platform victories is "Merit"; Meridian earned from submitting and deducing Dao arts on the Deduction Platform is "Dao Points."
Jiang Chen turned to the gnomon phantom, watching as text gradually appeared upon it.
Blessed Land Thirtieth: Master of Lanke Mountain. Dugu Wudi.
Sword Dueling Platform: Seventh Grade (Heaven-Piercing realm).
Upgrade Requirement: Soaring Dragon realm.
Merit: Five thousand three hundred points.
Deduction Platform: Second level.
Dao Points: Four hundred points.
Upgrade Requirement: Ten thousand Dao Points. (Lanke Mountain Master's Deduction Platform is sealed. One thousand Dao Points required for unsealing. Status: Unsealed.)
He had possessed the Ethereal Realm for quite some time, but only now, with Jiang Wuyong's "assistance," had he managed to unseal the Deduction Platform's second level.
Merit was cultivation merit; Dao Points were the means to protect that merit.
The upgraded platform showed little external change—still the green bamboo table, still the Jade Edict.
But the bamboo was greener, the white jade more radiant.
Under Jiang Chen's gaze, the Jade Edict slowly opened.
"Swordsmanship: Violet Dawn Sword Art. Soldier's Cultivation Method: Four-Spirit Body Refining Art. Tracking Dao Art: Mourning. Dao Art: Flamebloom. Dao Art: Flame Meteor. Dao Art: Resonance Flamefinch..."
The Dao arts and cultivation methods he had previously deducted, along with those he voluntarily submitted, slowly turned past. The Jade Edict gained its second page.
Among these, the Violet Dawn Sword Art, Four-Spirit Body Refining Art, and Mourning had all been strengthened through Merit expenditure on the Deduction Platform. Although recorded by the platform after deduction, the contribution points earned would naturally be modest.
The Ethereal Realm provided no detailed explanations. Jiang Chen had previously discussed it with Chongxuan Sheng, but even Chongxuan Sheng only had partial knowledge. Unlike Jiang Chen, who had "inherited" it from Zhuo Lie, Chongxuan Sheng had been chosen by the Ethereal Realm.
What Chongxuan Sheng was certain of was that the Ethereal Realm was not a product of conspiracy—it must be beneficial.
The reason was simple: an entity with such wide-ranging influence couldn't be hidden from all the strong cultivators across the myriad states and sects.
In other words, although the Ethereal Realm's existence hadn't been made public, it must have been tacitly approved by all nations and sects.
Following this logic, the Ethereal Realm's core principles must adhere to fairness and neutrality.
But because of its secretive nature, everything about the Ethereal Realm had to be figured out independently.
At most, like Jiang Chen and Chongxuan Sheng, they could know each other's identities within the Ethereal Realm and communicate privately.
Considering that the prompt to submit Dao arts only appeared after deducting Tigerbind, it showed the Deduction Platform had high standards for submitted arts.
To test his theory, Jiang Chen sequentially submitted basic Dao arts learned at the City Dao Academy: Flame Blade, Wind Blade, Golden Light Arrow, and similar techniques.
The displayed Dao Points remained unchanged.
He then submitted the grafted Dao art he had independently created: Vine-Snake Coiling Wall grafted with Flower of Devouring.
The platform increased by three Dao Points. Though still a common Dao art, its modification yielded some reward—albeit minimal.
"So, the contribution points earned by submitting Dao arts to the Deduction Platform depend not only on their power but also significantly on their rarity."
Jiang Chen fell into thought.
The platform's advancement system clearly aimed to encourage more cultivators to contribute their unique techniques.
Actually, during his battle with Jiang Wuyong, he had speculated. The Violet Dawn Sword Art shared the same origin as Jiang Wuyong's swordsmanship—someone must have contributed the Imperial Sword Art of Qi to the Ethereal Realm.
He just wondered whether the Ethereal Realm contained the Supreme Violet Dao Scripture.
Probably not.
Take Jiang Chen himself—his three self-created sword forms hadn't been submitted to the Deduction Platform for analysis.
Perhaps the platform could deduce a sword art to "perfection" through vast libraries of techniques, but that might not be the best sword for Jiang Chen.
Everyone had their own path, and everyone had their own sword.
Whether a sword of sun, moon, and stars or a sword of mountains and rivers, all were forged and refined from Jiang Chen's own essence, spirit, and vitality. He only needed to continue walking his path.
He hadn't considered submitting these three sword forms to the platform for contribution points to unseal it earlier.
Perhaps only when he no longer needed these forms would he consider such an option.
Because these were truly his own, his strongest methods at present.
Thanks to Zhuo Lie's legacy, Jiang Chen now advanced the Deduction Platform with far less effort—requiring only one-tenth the Dao Points for unsealing. Yet even so, he had only reached the second level.
It was hard to imagine how many resources Zhuo Lie had invested in the Ethereal Realm—he had pushed the platform to the nineteenth level! That was an astronomical figure.
But considering Zhuo Lie's world-renowned original Dao arts—Blossomfire, Wildfire, Solar Burst—everything seemed to fall into place.
Such a person, such a prodigy...
He had blazed across the sky like a daytime meteor, yet the radiance he left behind still illuminated Jiang Chen's path today.